


Hyde & Sikh

by TheMindGamer



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, Horror, Mid-Canon, Original Character(s), Romance, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2020-01-22
Packaged: 2020-12-17 13:40:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 59,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21055334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMindGamer/pseuds/TheMindGamer
Summary: After surviving a near fatal incident, Sheba and Finch awaken aboard a strange, desolate vessel. With only its unearthly attendant to patrol its dim hallways, however,The Inquisitionraises more questions than it asks. In order to see their drivers again, Sheba and Finch must now seek to answer those questions and shed light on the horrors that hide in the dark.





	1. Sudden Flushing

Sheba wondered what in Alrest had compelled her to be so stupid. What fatuous notion had possessed her to abandon her better judgement? She was nothing more than utter fool, and this was all anyone would ever need to prove it. She would blame it on the sun. Surely, the dry air and endless sand had sponged whatever water was left in her brain and impaired her royal judgement; because, otherwise, why would she allow this situation to ever transpire? Why would she continue to permit it? Why would she trust Finch to remember anything?

“Umm… I think it was around here somewhere…” Finch said as she trudged through the Ardanian badlands scratching her head.

Sheba glanced around. There was no sign of a well or any form civilization at all for that matter. “Admit it! You have gotten us lost in the wilderness!” Sheba shouted.

“Nuh-uh!” Finch replied with a scowl. “I know it was around here. I remember that rock!” Sheba’s eyes followed the shorter blade’s scaly index finger to a mound that looked like every other rock in Mor Ardain. Sheba ground her teeth.

“Do not lie to us, you amnesia-prone dwarf!” Sheba roared lunging at the shorter blade. She seized Finch’s cheeks between her thumbs and forefingers pinching and pulling them in opposite directions.

“Yowie!” Finch yelped. “I’m not lying! Honest!” she protested. Sheba tugged a moment longer before releasing her grip and leaving the downy dame to rub her reddened face.

Sheba sank to her knees with a sigh. Taking her anger out on the smaller blade would solve nothing. Finch wasn’t exactly in control of her memory, and she wouldn’t have gotten them lost on purpose.

“Come on!” Finch said. Sheba looked up to see her motioning a few paces ahead. She was unusually determined for some reason.

Ignoring her, Sheba leaned back on her haunches and looked into the sky. The sun hung directly overhead searing her delicate skin without remorse. It could extinguish, and she would never miss the wretched thing. She groaned. She wanted to bathe away the dust and sweat, but between the distance from her driver and the aridness of Mor Ardain, summoning and maintaining her tub seemed like far too much exertion at the moment.

“This is not worth any amount of meager coin,” she whined.

“Stop sittin’ around,” Finch said bounding over and grabbing her hand. She hoisted Sheba back to her feet and pulled her along so quickly that any designs of protest were allayed in favor of trying not to trip in her heels. “It’s gotta be right around this corner!” Finch chirped dragging her down a pass leading up the side of a rockface while, thankfully, slowing down.

The words barely registered with Sheba. Instead, she focused on the fingers currently wrapped around her hand. They were cool to the touch despite the feathery warmth she knew was hidden under her vambraces only a few inches above. The leathery skin was rougher than her own but not outright course, and sharp claws jutted from each finger as firm scales lined its backside. Finch didn’t really have hands; she had fearsome talons that now held Sheba’s lithe little fingers hostage. Sheba swallowed as an odd sensation stirred in her chest to compliment the butterflies in her stomach. It had been happening more frequently, and she wasn’t certain she liked it.

The top of the pass lead out into a plateau overlooking a canyon. Finch stopped and released her hand. With a furrowed brow and a little frown, she spun around with a groan of frustration. “I was sure it was up here,” she said and pointed to her head with her index fingers before clenching her eyes. “Where was it, again?” she muttered.

Sheba surveyed the canyon ahead taking a few steps forward. She saw little beyond more dirt, rocks, and unpleasantness. Meanwhile, Chilsain with all its shops, people, and running water lie in the distance behind them. “I believe it is time we cut our losses and retire back to town,” she said shoving her nose in the air hoping to give a degree finality to the remark.

“No! Come on!” Finch protested running up to her. “We’re so close! I can feel it!” She hopped in place flapping her arms.

“Absolutely not!” Sheba replied. “We are done with this little misadventure, so you will escort us back.” Without waiting for an answer, Sheba started marching back toward the sloping pass.

“Sharla, wait!” Finch cried latching herself to Sheba’s waist.

“Eep!” Sheba yelped. “Unhand our personage!”

“Shawna, wait! Just a little further!” Finch pleaded.

“We have already said ‘no,’” Sheba said trying to pry Finch off.

“But you gotta!” Finch cried going limp. “Just hear me out, okay?!”

“There will be no further discussion. We have already decided!,” Sheba hissed trying her best to storm off despite dragging the shorter blade along the ground behind her.

“No, Sheeva! Wait, Sheila! Not yet! It’s just a little farther, Sheena! Come on! Pleeeease, Shelly! Shelby! Sandy!” Finch begged.

“OUR NAME IS SHEBA!” she shrieked at the top of her lungs. Her voice echoed across through the canyon as she huffed. Finch fell over onto her rear blinking up with surprise. Sheba returned the blinking. She felt her face heating as her outburst dawned on her. “O-our apologies,” Sheba muttered fixing her posture and suddenly taking interest in a pile of rocks to her right. “We simply cannot have you calling us by incorrect names. Must we beat you into recollection?” she added trying her best to save face with jest.

“Sh-Sheba...” Finch said fear lacing her voice.

Sheba’s brows knitted together in confusion. Her heart sank as she wondered if Finch seriously thought she had any serious intentions of harming her. “But do not fear. We will find another way, for we are a benevolent monarch,” Sheba added.

“What are you talking about?” Finch asked looking at her.

Sheba’s posture drooped. “Were you not frightened by our threat?” she asked dumbfounded.

“No. You’re only scary when you think you can make money,” Finch replied.

Sheba’s jaw dropped. “We- I- You-” she said failing to conjugate a sentence.

“Stop your yammerin’ and look over there!” Finch shouted back pointing past her.

Scowling, Sheba turned around, and the dread nearly knocked her over as she spied the largest arachno she had ever seen climbing over the ridge behind her. She wagered it stood easily twice as tall as the one they had encountered in Elpys.

“Hehe… This is kind of a tight spot, huh?” Finch said with a forced chuckle.

Conniving Octavius swished his mandibles as he scanned the plateau. Drool or, perhaps, venom dripped from his open mouth as his eyes settled on them. Finch scrambled to her feet, and the pair ran screaming toward a stone walkway leading into the canyon. Octavius took a titanic step in pursuit. He was by no means quick, but his massive strides easily began gaining on them.

Sheba leaped into the air and summoned her tub beneath her sliding into the water. She maintained speed next to Finch. The downy dame doubletook before vaulting over into the tub herself and splashing water all over. Sheba spat out the water from Finch’s splash as the massive spider cast its shadow over them. The tub reared back a little before blasting forward at full speed.

The walls grew taller until they reached the bottom of the canyon. Sheba could tell the arachno was close without needing to look back as Octavius’s footsteps thundered right behind them. Ahead, the canyon jutted sharply to the right, but there would be no slowing for it. Sheba tilted her tub sending it into a drift as she curved their momentum. The bottom of the tub collided with the wall and they bounced off continuing at full speed around the corner.

“AAAAAHHHHH!” Finch cried clutching a side of the tub in each hand and pressing her back against Sheba’s stomach.

They rocketed past a group of ropls who decided to charge after them as well. It wasn’t long before the smaller monsters seemed to be running a different reason as Octavius rounded the corner behind them. Sheba heard one of the ropls squeal, but their speed prevented her from looking back to see what had happened.

Octavius jumped into the air. His landing shook the very ground itself and sent boulders careening down the rockface.

Sheba maneuvered her tub as best she could to avoid the stones raining down on them. They slipped between a narrow opening between two fallen stones, and Sheba veered to the left as another stone came into view immediately behind them. The back end slammed into the boulder causing them to spin out before flipping the tub entirely and sending them both tumbling across the ground out of the canyon and into somewhere more open.

Picking herself up from the ground, Sheba rubbed her head. She searched for Finch finding her sprawled on her back a short distance away. Dematerializing her tub, Sheba dashed over as Finch sat up. She glanced back. The canyon pass had narrowed too much for the arachno to fit through, but Octavius was making his way up the canyon wall clearly intent to go around.

“Hey! Look!’ Finch said pointing. Sheba followed her finger to the wall behind them. An old elevator sat tucked into a manmade relief. She glanced again at Octavius who had already reached the top and would be making his way back toward them any moment.

Sheba ran toward the elevator dragging Finch along behind her. She slammed her palm into the button inside hoping to the Architect that it still worked. She caught a glimpse of Octavius as he walked out onto the cobblestone plaza, but the doors shut as the arachno twirled around to face them.

The platform jostled and started moving downward, and Sheba let out a sigh of relief. Backing up until she hit the wall, she slid down it until she rested on her haunches.

“Wow! I thought we were goners!” Finch cried taking a seat next to her. “You really burned up the quarter mile!”

Sheba chuckled still completely rattled. Finch’s feathers tickled her arm, and suddenly, Sheba was acutely aware of their proximity. The strange feeling was coming back, and it did no good for her still pounding heart. She stole a look at Finch who was grinning at her. Unable to handle the eye contact, Sheba turned away and drew her knees close.

“Hey, you’re bleeding,” Finch said frowning. Sheba stared at the blood trickling from her knees. She hadn’t felt it, but it must have happened when they were thrown. Finch shuffled around next to her flipping open a little pouch clipped to her belt. She pulled a notepad out before rummaging deeper and pulling out a handkerchief. Shoving the notepad back into her pouch, she climbed over onto her knees.

Sheba watched dumbfounded as Finch began gently dabbing at the blood with the handkerchief Her heart pounded in her ears, and the foreign feeling beleaguered Sheba. Such wounds were trivial to a blade and could heal in an instant in the presence of one’s driver, so there was no real need to attend to it. She felt her face coloring as she stared at Finch’s determined expression. Did she have no understanding of boundaries or tact? How could she perform such intimate gestures without the slightest of thoughts toward what they could mean? Finch was kind, but it was thoughtless kindness. There was no meaning or depth to it. She would be doing the same for anyone else. The thought made Sheba angry, and she gritted her teeth.

“You were not given permission to lay those filthy claws upon us,” Sheba said snatching the bloodied cloth. Finch blinked up at her. Sheba scowled back, but Finch’s questioning green eyes quickly broke her resolve. “We simply do not expect you to be able to perform this task to our satisfaction,” she said shoving her nose into the air.

“Why not?” Finch asked.

Sheba wasn’t prepared for that question. She wracked her brain for something resembling an answer. “One should not just dab at our wounds with any dingy old rag,” she said. “We demand proper cleaning, and disinfectant, and…” Sheba trailed off trying to think of a third item.

“Do you want me to kiss it and make it better or something, too?” Finch asked laughing.

Sheba’s jaw dropped, her brow furrowed, and her face colored once more. She shook her head to dislodge the strange imagery that was taking root. “Of course not,” Sheba said returning to her feet to hide the heat in her face. “We simply have a certainly level of standard.”

“If you say so,” Finch replied with a shrug.

The elevator came to a stop, and the doors slid opened in front of Sheba. Taking the cue, she stepped out into a tall, dark shaft. Looking up, she spied abandoned drilling equipment, and a series of pipes lining the walls. Green fluid dripped from one of the pipes informing Sheba that this was an ether well. She took a step forward and leaned over the catwalk railing investigating a loud bubbling noise. The cloud sea crashed against the shaft walls as what Sheba assumed was a massive eddy collided with the current created by Mor Ardain’s movement to form a whirlpool spanning the width of the entre shaft below them.

“See! I knew there was a well here!” Finch said trotting up behind her while flapping her arms and grinning.

“We were imagining something much different...” Sheba replied absently as she followed the catwalk over the vortex. Her fingers trailed the guardrail as she continued to stare at the whirlpool. She wondered how deep below the shaft went. Had the drilling been abandoned when when they had broken through the bottom or had a wall ruptured and flooded the lower tunnel?

Sheba jumped as Finch snaked her arm around her waist. The heat returned to her face as Finch’s fluffy feathers press against her bare skin. Sheba swallowed not sure how to react. She glanced at Finch from the corner of her eye and was met with the most pompous grin she’d ever seen on smaller blade’s face.

“You didn’t think I could do it,” Finch said poking Sheba with her finger. “I told you there was a well here.”

Sheba tore away fuming. “If you threw anything down there, there will be no retrieving it,” Sheba said pointing at the swirling clouds then crossing her arms.

“Wait… were we looking for something IN a well?” Finch asked pointing her index fingers at her head and squinting. “I don’t remember that part…”

Sheba gritted her teeth and scowled. “Of course!” she shouted flinging her arms in the air “What was the point of hiking through the wasteland if we are ultimately unable to purchase fashionable items despite our efforts?”

“I dunno,” Finch replied flapping her arms “,‘cause it’s fun to hang out together?”

Sheba opened her mouth to shout again but closed it without a word. Did this absurd, little blade just imply that she was perfectly happy aimlessly wandering through the dry, dirty desert as long as she was with her? Sheba’s face ignited in embarrassment.

“Whoa, Shelly’s blushing a lot! What’s it this time?” Finch said grabbing her around the waist.

“Unhand us!” Sheba squealed scowling.

“No! Not until you say that Finch is a genius, and that you wish you could be like her!”

Sheba’s jaw dropped. “We are never saying that!” she shouted pushing a Finch.

“Aw! Come on! No one but me will hear!” Finch replied. Sheba tried to pry Finch’s fingers apart, but they were clamped together like a vice.

“We do not care! Release us!” Sheba protested. “Release us or we will have-”

A loud crack interrupted her, and suddenly, Sheba was sliding down the catwalk. Not an instant later she was outright falling. She reached out to grab the railing lurching to a stop. Pain jolted across her shoulder and up her arm causing her to scream. Grabbing the railing with her second hand, she let the first arm fall limp to her side. Scaly hands slipped down her waist drawing her attention. Sheba glanced down to find herself dangling over the swirling abyss. Finch hugged her waist tighter clearly trying not to slip further. Sheba tried to reach down with her free arm, but it refused to move. Finch’s wide, terrified eyes stared up at her, and all Sheba could do was stare back. She winced as Finch’s talon’s dug into her side.

Finch looked down and then back at Sheba. Her fear seemed to turn to sadness, and the pain from her claws disappeared. Sheba shouted Finch’s name, but the words crashed into a massive blast of air that propelled her upward. Sheba sailed into the air then slammed onto her back near the elevator. Pain erupted in her shoulder from the impact. Ignoring it, Sheba leapt back to her feet. She dashed to the elevator deck guardrail and peered over to see Finch spinning around the outer rim of the whirlpool struggling to keep her head above the surface.

“Idiot,” Sheba mumbled under her breath as she watched the rotation. Briefly, she wondered exactly who she was insulting as she dove off the catwalk.

With perfect timing, she collided with Finch, and they plunged down into the cloud sea. The heavy, thick liquid welcomed them without an ounce of resistance. Sheba had never a met a water blade who liked the cloud sea. It was unlike any other water. It was disobedient, unbreathable... hostile. She hated it, and if someone had told Sheba it wasn’t water all, she wouldn’t be surprised.

Finch’s arms tightened around her, and Sheba cradled her small body close with her uninjured arm. Kicking with her tail and feet, she tried to swim back to the surface, but the current pushed her down with unyielding force. She slipped farther and farther below unable to escape the current despite her effort. A metal panel torpedoed by, narrowly missing her. Sheba recognized it as a piece of the collapsed catwalk that had apparently fallen in the whirlpool along with them. Her eyes widened. She was making no ground against the current and if that thing swung by again, they may be dead anyway.

Wrapping her legs around Finch, Sheba materialized her tub. It would protect them from things in the whirlpool at least but only on one side. Finch’s body had gone limp, and Sheba foresaw falling unconscious herself quite soon. Wishing she had a second tub, Sheba clung to Finch as the thought struck her. She had never tried it before, but there would be no more urgent a time to undertake it. Sheba clenched her eyes and willed a second tub to appear pushing all her ether into it. She reopened them to find a porcelain clamshell surrounding them. It took only a bit more ether to fuse the tubs together.

She mustered the last of her ether and began filling the tubs with water. She couldn’t push the cloud sea out entirely, but it may be enough to prevent her from drowning. Sheba felt the feather’s on Finch’s head between her fingers. It may be enough to prevent only her from drowning. Without thinking, she pressed her lips to Finch’s and blew the last of the air from her lungs not knowing if it would even help.

With no more oxygen, darkness grasped at her mind and thinking became difficult. She had tried to save Finch, but instead, they both were just going to drown. Maybe their core crystals would wash up somewhere, and they’d be reawakened together by a new driver. Sheba wondered if that was likely. Being lost to the cloud sea never to be awakened again was a terrifying thought, but at least they weren’t be dying alone. She hugged Finch’s body closer. Something heavy crashed against the tubs slamming them into Sheba’s injured shoulder. She screamed forcing out air she didn’t have, and the sharp pain drove away any other thoughts as dark fingers wrapped themselves around her mind.


	2. Don’t Cry

Sheba gasped pushing herself up to a sitting position. Her head spun around taking in the room. A sole candle flickered against the far wall next to a door, and the dim lighting gave the steel walls an uninviting gloom. She clutched bedsheets to her chest as her pulse pounded in her skull. Her panic began to subside as she realized that she now lie in a bed. She rubbed her hand across the coarse, woolen blanket. By no means was it a bed fit for comfort, but even Sheba wouldn’t exchange this for the terror of that whirlpool. Someone must have saved them.

Wait. Them?

Her heart once again leapt into her throat as she remembered Finch. She scanned to room finding it empty beyond herself. Had Finch drowned? Were they separated? Was she the only one that had been rescued? Her stomach churned at the thought of Finch’s core crystal lost to the bottom of the cloud sea.

Sheba threw the covers off and stepped down. The cold metal of the floor greeted her bare feet. Apparently, someone had removed her shoes as well, but Sheba wasn’t terribly concerned at the moment. She wobbled as she took a step toward the doorway -- her head swimming.

The steel door hung partially open widening with only a light push from Sheba. She peeked into the dark abyss of a hallway bracing herself on the doorframe. A bright light came on blinding her and forcing Sheba to shield her eyes. She squinted into the light only to be greeted by a horrid visage. A tall shadow loomed over her. Its hooked bill and glinting eyes hovered mere inches from her face. A lantern dangled from its right hand casting the blinding light. “You’re awake…” the figure murmured.

Sheba yelped and retreated back into the room. The figure did not give chase but merely stood at the door unmoving. As Sheba’s eyes became more accustomed to the lantern’s light, the creature that had snuck upon her grew clearer. He wore dark, billowing robes that covered most of his body. He towered over Sheba despite a clear hunchback, and his lantern cast shadows so deep that it was hard to tell exactly where they ended and he began. His blurred silhouette bled into the darkness while two spindly hands extended past his sleeves. They were the only bare skin Sheba could see. What she had thought had been a beak and eyes appeared to be a mask at least a little reminiscent of the one Finch wore despite being far less ornate. Paired with his close-fit hood, it hid his face completely. A soft blue glow filtered from under his shroud telling her that while eerie, he was still a blade.

“Fear not… My name is… Hyde…” the hunchback said to Sheba’s frightened silence. “If I had… known… you would… awaken... I would have prepared… refreshments...” His stilted speech unnerved her, and Sheba couldn’t help but think he was specifically searching for words to earn her trust. It was having the opposite effect.

Sheba stood straight, lifted her chin, and placed a hand on her hip. “I-i-inform me as to w-where we are!” she demanded her voice quivering despite her attempt at appearing authoritative.

Hyde stared at her in silence for a moment sending a chill down Sheba’s spine. “Welcome aboard… _The Inquisition_…” he said raising his free hand as if to present the room.

“_The Inquisition_ ? Is this a ship?” Sheba whispered to herself with a flicker of relief. She could at least escape this darkness that seemed to be pressing down around her. “We demand you take us above deck at once!” she ordered.

“That… isn’t possible…” Hyde replied suddenly taking a step into the room

“W-why not?!” Sheba stammered taking her own step away.

“You… nearly drowned… You need… more rest…” Hyde continued as he advanced more slowly toward her.

“No! We are perfectly fine!” Sheba cried matching each step. Her back pressed against the opposite wall, and Hyde reached toward her with his free hand. Sheba clenched her eyes preparing for the worst. “And Finch may be hurt...” she whimpered.

“Finch…?” Hyde repeated in a gruff whisper near her ear. When she felt no hand touch her, Sheba opened an eye finding the hunchback bowing his head slightly. “Ah…” he murmured looking back up at her. “Your feathered… companion… Follow me…” he said. The hunchback turned without waiting for any form of acknowledgement. Sheba’s mind took a moment to catch up to the change in event, but once it did, her heart began to race as she imagined Finch’s limp, half-drowned body or, even worse, her shattered core crystal. She darted after the hood and shroud back into the dark hallway.

Hyde seemed to glide through the darkness like a phantom. His footsteps were nearly inaudible and his dark robes would have blended into the cramped, adumbral corridors if not for the halo cast from the lantern he held. Small, red lights lined the floor, and were the only thing preventing Sheba walking directly into a wall on more than one occasion.

Suddenly, Hyde stopped, and Sheba crashed into him falling to her bottom. Hyde turned, and the lenses of his mask glinted from the flicker of the lantern. Sheba swallowed not certain what to expect, but he offered his hand. Sheba stared before tentatively taking it. Hyde yanked her to her feet with a frightening amount of strength despite his slender fingers.

“Enter…” Hyde ordered motioning toward the door to her left. Sheba glanced between the hunchback blade and the metal door. Her breathing hastened as she reached for the lever. Swinging the door open, she stepped into the room expecting the worst.

Finch sat at a long table shoveling in broiled Krabble with a fork. “What’s up, Doc!?” Finch shouted through a mouthful of food. She swallowed and her eyes went wide as she spotted Sheba. “SHEILA!” she shouted vaulting clear across the table. The downy dame dove at Sheba wrapping her arms around her waist and nearly knocking her over once more. “You’re up!”

Relief washed over Sheba only to be quickly replaced by embarrassment as she spotted Hyde watching them silently with his expressionless mask.. “C-cease your touching of me!” Sheba commanded.

“Hey, I thought we were both goners,” Finch replied giving a little scowl. “You should be hugging me back.”

Sheba’s mind went blank and her mouth suddenly felt too dry. “I- I... w-we…” she stammered. Her face felt like the surface of the sun, and her arms seemed strapped to her sides. A girl had just asked her for a hug. Even if that girl was just Finch, wasn't this something Sheba fantasized about? Sheba lifted her arms only to drop them again. She stared down into Finch’s expecting eyes not understand why something so simple was suddenly now so difficult?

A howling noise reverberated through the hall behind them.

“Whoa! What was that?” Finch asked letting go. Sheba’s heart sank as the contact broke, but she turned around to stare at the dark hole she had just come from.

“The ship… creaking…” Hyde answered next to them.

“‘Creaking?’ Are you certain?” Sheba asked furrowing her brow. “Not once have we ever heard any ship make that manner of sound.”

Hyde stared at the door giving her no reply. “I… have things that I… must attend…” he said before soundlessly slipping out the door once more. The hatch then slammed it shut.

Sheba lunged back toward the door reaching for the lever again fully intending to interrogate Hyde only to find it locked. Sheba blinked. Why would he locked them in? Sheba shuddered at the answers she came up with. A scaly hand wrapped around her own, and she found herself being tugged toward the table.

“Did you meet that blade when you woke up?” Sheba asked thinking of Finch’s remark when she had entered.

“Eeyup! Doc’s pretty nice,” Finch replied. “He gave me food and stuff. You want some?” Finch lifted a krabble leg from the platter on the table. Sheba shook her head but found her eyes drifting toward the teapot sitting next to it. She glanced at Finch who grinned back at her smugly clasping a teacup she had materialized from somewhere. Embarrassed that the shorter blade had read her mind, Sheba scowled at the ground as her face colored. Finch scurried around and started pouring tea into the cup.

Sheba sighed returning her thoughts to Hyde. “Nice” was by no means the word Sheba would use to describe that hunchback. She found Hyde uncanny and creepy. He unsettled her in a way she couldn’t quite identify. “Tell us. What sort of person skulks about in the dark like that?” she inquired.

“I dunno. Maybe the power’s just out,” Finch said handing her the cup.

Sheba took a sip, and bitter liquid accosted her tongue. She wrinkled her nose. It was a thoroughly awful brew, and she doubted even excessive sugar and cream could save it. Despite herself, she took another sip. The warmth settling in her chest alone was apparently reason enough to keep drinking.

Leaning against the table, Sheba glanced around the room. The only light came from the candles strewn about lending a level of credence to Finch’s idea. Other than some valves and pipes attached to the wall, it was vacant aside from the table. An empty door frame led to what might have been a small kitchen, but the gloom prevented her seeing it clearly enough to tell for certain. She had no particular interest in confirming it, however, so she remained propped against the table.

Sheba cradled the cup between her fingers and watched Finch from the corner of her eye. The downy dame peeked under the table then glanced around the room before scratching her head. She seemed entirely uninjured; meanwhile, a dull ache throbbed in Sheba’s shoulder. Placing her cup on the table beside her, she massaged the pain. When that didn’t work, she rolled her shoulder but winced as the pain intensified. She sighed and resigned herself to being glad she could even move it at all. She had thought healing would take longer. Her chest tightened as an idea struck.

“Finch, do you have any idea how long you’ve been awake?” Sheba asked. “Hours? ...days?” They were supposed to be leaving the titan that evening, but Sheba had no idea how long she had been asleep. That evening could be weeks ago. Everyone would have been waiting for them. What would the others have done if they had never returned?

“I dunno. I forget,” Finch replied with a little giggle.

“Outside of that… blade,” Sheba replied motioning to the door with her head. “Have you seen anyone else?”

“Uh-uh,” Finch replied shaking her head.

Sheba frowned. “Surely, he must have a driver nearby if nothing else?” she pressed. Finch merely shrugged in reply.

Sighing to herself, Sheba lifted her teacup once more. She couldn’t feel her own driver at all, and while she’d never admit it, she wished he were present. Perhaps it was just the unending gloom, but everything about this ship made Sheba uneasy. At worst, he’d have some vague course of action. Meanwhile, Sheba’s mind was still reeling.

She watched the barren ceiling as she wondered what the others would decide. First, they would likely want a better idea of their location. They could be titanpeds from Mor Ardain or even parked in the harbor for all she knew. Going above deck still seemed sensible, and it should at least set her bearings. She absently stirred her tea before taking another sip.

“So… um… Shani, I have a question,” Finch said her voice somewhat softer than it had been prior. Sheba glanced down taking another sip of tea. Finch had taken a seat at the table, but was looking at her with a knitted brow and wide, green eyes. Her hands were clasped together on the tabletop as she twiddled her thumbs nervously.

“We suppose,” Sheba replied between sips. The concern in Finch’s expression prompted her own nervousness as well.

“Why did you…” Finch bowed her head and pulling her hands into her lap. “Why’d you jump in again?”

Furrowing her brow, Sheba tilted her head not quite following. After a second, Sheba froze spraying the floor with tea. She hadn’t expect Finch to remember that detail though it wasn’t as though she really knew the answer herself. In spite of this, the thought was making her face heat up.

“We were hanging there, and I thought we were gonna die, but I remembered I could make a big updraft and save one of us, so I blew you up high, but you jumped back in, and then you were hurt, and Doc patched you up, but I was still scared you weren’t gonna be okay, and... stuff…” Finch said finishing lamely and staring at the ground.

Sheba blinked not entirely sure she had caught all of that. “Doc patched me up?” she repeated. “Who? Hyde?” Sheba glanced at the door as if saying his name would summon him back.

“Yeah," Finch nodded. “You were, like, super hurt. Doc fixed your arm and stuff.”

Sheba rubbed her sore shoulder once more. “We do not follow. Are you saying Hyde nursed us?”

“Yup.” Finch nodded more vigorously then added, “But Doc’s a doc - not a nurse.” Uncertain how this made her feel, Sheba frowned. She had yet to put thought into who had actually helped them. Did he somehow fish them from the cloud sea himself? Certainly, he wasn’t this ship’s only mariner. She dismissed the notion. Perhaps everyone was merely sleeping. It would explain the dim hallways.

Finishing the tea in one final gulp, Sheba placed the now empty cup on the table and turned toward the locked door. As she approached it, she pulled a pin from her hair and snapped it in two. Bending one half in her teeth, she squinted at the lock. “Finch, we require your assistance. Bring us one of those candles at once!”

Finch hopped up and grabbed one from the mantle or at least something that looked like a mantle. “Yeowch,” she said dropping the candle on the floor and fanning her hand in the air. “Too hot...” she mumbled. Finch’s head swiveled before she darted back to the table and took a saucer from one of the teacups. Taking a different candle, she carefully slid it onto the saucer before bringing it over.

Sheba took the makeshift candlestick tilting it slightly to see if the candle would fall off without a pricket. Finch, meanwhile, peeled the dried wax from her talon and began sucking the side of her finger. Satisfied the candle was stable, Sheba leaned over the door lever holding the light to the lock.

It appeared to be nothing more than a simple pin and tumbler assembly. “Hold this,” she ordered handing the candle back to Finch. She inserted the bent pin into the lock and twisted it to apply pressure. With the second half she probed bottom of the hole pushing each tumbler she felt down. After the fourth tumbler, the latch turned and the door swung open. “Hmph!” Sheba sang smirking in self-satisfied triumph.

Poking her head out, Sheba gazed down the hall. The red walkway lights gave only the faintest glow leaving most of it hidden.

“Hey! Who turned out the lights?” Finch said stepping out into the doorway beside her. The candlelight pushed back the shadows revealing the pipework and wiring along the wall.

“Were there lights before?” Sheba asked raising an eyebrow.

Finch furrowed her brow and pointed at her head with the forefinger of her free hand. “Ummm… I don’t remember.” she said with a giggle.

Sheba groaned then rolled her eyes. Taking the candle from Finch, she held it aloft. A few more doors lined the same wall as the small dining room before the hallway ended and jutted to the left. She approached the nearest door and pushed it open. Finding a washroom, she did the same to the next two doors to find a second washroom and a utility closet. A fine layer of dust covered the shelves indicating nothing had been touched in quite some time.

“What’cha looking for?” Finch asked poking her head under the arm Sheba held the door open with.

“We do not know…” Sheba murmured in reply. She did know she was stalling, however. She wasn’t afraid of the dark, per se, but the shadows aboard this vessel pressed down around her heavy and thick. It stole her vision and crept into every crevice barely driven back by the candle she held. In many ways, it felt just like the cloud sea they had been rescued from, and the idea of that hunchback blade skulking about in it did her imagination no favors. Shutting the door, she rounded the corner attempting to appear less apprehensive than she felt.

As Finch trotted along behind her, her talons clacked against the metal floor. Sheba found it oddly comforting and glanced back. Finch held her hands behind her head and wore a relaxed grin seemingly unperturbed by their surroundings. It hadn’t occurred to Sheba how stoic the smaller blade could be, but for all her exuberance, Sheba couldn’t recall Finch ever truly losing her calm. Sheba envied that slightly.

The corner behind them plunged into darkness, and Sheba returned her attention to the corridor ahead. It sprawled into endless gloom. After only a mere few paces forward, everything behind them had been shrouded in darkness leaving only a tunnel leading to and from oblivion. Sheba hated it. Darkness wasn’t for wandering through. It was for sleeping and for cuddles.

They came to a fork as a new hallway crossed perpendicular to the one they were following, but every option looked the same.

“Hey, let’s go that way!” Finch said pointing to the right.

“Why?” Sheba asked raising an eyebrow.

“No reason. I just got a good feeling about it,” Finch said flapping her arms with a grin. Sheba’s eyebrows knitted together, and she stared at Finch with a half-lidded frown. She was already trying to get them lost.

Some sort of banging echoed down the hall to their left drawing their attention before Sheba could make a remark. It sounded as if someone were beating on a door or perhaps hitting the side of the ship with a hammer. It stopped briefly then picked up again almost immediately.

“Unless you wanna go find out what that is,” Finch suggested. Sheba bit her lip. She had no interest in finding out what was causing any of the mysterious noises this ship made. Seeing no reason to deign the remark with a reply, Sheba hurried past Finch and down the right hall taking the candlelight with her.

Finch darted behind her running a few steps to catch up. They ignored a few more doors, and came upon another junction as the hallway ended. Initially, Sheba had taken another right, but the found it led toward a set of stairs going downward. Reasoning that it wouldn’t be productive to head down, they doubled back and took the left.

They passed through an open room. Machinery hummed unattended against the wall. Pipes ran into the machines, and a little console with dials and gauges occupied the center of the room. Charts lined the free wall, but what drew Sheba was a little desk in the corner.

A few figurines stood in front of a panel monitor. She lifted a book with a pencil marking a page and leafed through it. It appeared to be a puzzle book in the same language as the charts on the wall. The spine had deformed thanks to the pencil, but otherwise it seemed as expected. She returned it to the desk before turning to a small framed photograph. She lifted it and blew away the dust coating it. A pair of Indoline boys sat grinning in front of a large fountain with their arms slung over a man in some sort of uniform. The man held up what Sheba could only guess was a diploma with an embarrassed grin. Oddly, neither of the boys wore Praetorium acolyte garb, and upon further examination, she realized they also wore uniforms similar to the man. She set the photograph back down and frowned. This ship had certainly had people on it, but this desk didn’t look like it had been disturbed for some time. If that were the case, where did they go?

“Shanelle! Come quick!” Finch called out snapping Sheba from her thoughts. Sheba whirled around and scanned the room holding the candle in the air. “Hurry!” Finch cried, and Sheba realized the sound was coming from an adjacent hallway.

Stepping into the hallway tentatively, Sheba held the candle forward. Her heart began to race as she looked into the empty space between bulkheads ahead of her. Finch wouldn’t simply wander off into the dark would she? Unless something… or someone had grabbed her. Hyde’s eerie visage flashed through Sheba’s mind.

Sheba crept forward barely making a sound as her toes met the cold floor. Her heart pounded in her ears and the slight sway of the ship suddenly seemed dizzying. Every step pushed back the darkness, but Sheba dreaded what may be lying within it. The light of the fire lapped at the shadows as Sheba reached the end of the hall finding yet another fork: left or right. Sheba swallowed. “Finch?!” she called her voice quivering. There was no answer. Sheba took a step into the right corridor holding the candle high. What would she do if Hyde had in fact taken her?

Something slamming against the wall behind her, and Sheba spun around. 

“OOOGAH BOOOGAH! BOOOGAH!”

Suddenly, light radiated from below, and Sheba was face to face with a beak and lenses. She shrieked and staggered backwards. Tripping over something, she toppled to her rear. Hastily, she patted the ground around her looking for her ether cannon before remembering it was still back in Chilsain. Sheba panicked. Without her weapon, she was defenseless. Then she heard giggling.

“I got you good! You should have seen your face!” Finch chirped pulling up her mask. She held her stomach with one hand and an electric torch in her other as she chortled atop a table. Anger supplanted Sheba’s fear, and she lunged at the smaller blade who was in the process of hopping down from her perch.

“You diminutive dunce!,” Sheba said grabbing Finch’s cheeks. “Were you trying to send us to our early grave!” 

“Ah! That’s smarts!” Finch yelped grabbing Sheba’s wrists. “It was just a joke!” Sheba tugged harder. “Yeowch! Okay! I’m sorry!” Finch cried.

Still fuming, Sheba released the downy dame to rub her cheeks. “We did not find it funny,” she said crossing her arms.

“I said I was sorry,” Finch muttered with a tone that didn’t strike Sheba as terribly apologetic.

“Sorry is not good enough! We thought you had-!” Sheba stopped speaking. She bit her lip so no more words would spill out. She didn’t wish to share that being startled wasn’t the part that frightened her.

Silence hung in the air for a few seconds before Finch spoke. “Thought I... what?” she asked scratching the back of her head. Sheba, unwilling to allow Finch the chance to actually press her, spun on her heels and stormed away farther down into the blackness of the corridor. “Hey, wait up!” Finch shouted as she scurried next to her having to nearly jog to keep up with taller blade’s longer strides. Sheba ignored her staring down at the red floor lights as the rays from Finch’s torch bobbed up and down.

“Sheila, are you mad at me?” Finch asked.

Sheba paused glancing at Finch. Was she this dim? “Of course! We are quite upset!” she said honestly.

“Oh…” Finch replied looking at the ground.

“We do not see why we tolerate your churlish behavior!” Sheba huffed. She waited for the smaller blade to respond but frowned when she said nothing in response.”Well?” Sheba gritted her teeth. “Have you nothing to say for yourself?”

When no reply came, Sheba scoffed and returned to making her way down the hall. Finch trailed behind her but remained silent. Sheba could not quite pinpoint why every thought she had only served to infuriate her more. She felt ridiculed, and she didn’t understand why Finch would sororize with her. None of the other blades did. Did she think of her as a joke? A fool to embarrass and humiliate? Was she and her feelings just a jester for her entertainment? Even if Finch was fine with it, Sheba found their situation disconcerting. She didn’t need that plumed pygmy making it any worse.

“I got it!” Finch suddenly shouted derailing Sheba’s train of thought. “Okay, how about this?” she said darting front of Sheba. Clenching her fists, she leaned forward with her legs shoulder-width apart and shouted “I’m really REALLY sorry!”

Sheba blinked. After all that time, that’s what she had been coming up with? Even with the torchlight pointing toward the ground, she could see Finch’s brow and lips were tight with determination. The odd shadows collected around her mouth creating the illusion that her cheeks were even larger than usual and effectively made her look like a particularly angry baby. Sheba felt the corner of her mouth tug upward. No! She was angry, and Finch’s goofy face wasn’t enough to change that. “Hmph!” she snorted shoving her nose into the air.

“Sheeeiiilaaaa! I’m, like, super DUPER sorry! Like times six. No! Times infinity!” Finch said flinging her arms out for emphasis.

“No! We are still angry!” Sheba said turning to hide her grin.

“Oh come on! Cheer up!” Finch cried throwing herself at Sheba and grabbing her around the waist.

Sheba yelped. “Unhand us!” she shouted fighting the blush that always came with the contact.

“No! Not until you’re not mad, Shirley!” Finch sobbed.

Sheba gritted her teeth and looked down but couldn’t maintain the scowl when confronted with Finch’s ridiculous expression. Sheba didn’t know if it was the crocodile tears streaming down her cheeks or the trail of snot, but the corners of Sheba’s mouth tugged upward despite her best efforts. “We- We do not for-forgive you!” Sheba said failing to contain her laughter.

Catching on, Finch began grinning. “But I’m beggin’ ya!” she whined sliding down to her knees and clutching the golden straps at Sheba’s sides between her hands.

“One such as myself does not have to forgive peons!” Sheba replied grinning back. From behind her came a strange gargling noise followed by the sounds of splashing water.

“But ya gotta! I’ll do anything!” Finch said with a giggle. Sheba turned back distracted by the noise. “I said I’ll do anything!” Finch pressed.

“Hush!” Sheba ordered raising a finger. She stopped in place listening. The swishing and plodding noises grew louder. Sheba leaned in toward the wall. A long, wide pipe ran the course of it. “Do you hear that?” she asked placing her ear next to the pipe.

“Hear what?” Finch asked then scrambled to collect the torch that had rolled a short distance away.

“Do you hear water?” Sheba reiterated.

Finch shone the torch around the corridor. The splashing had grown quite loud. “It sounds like something’s in there,” she said shining the light against the wall.

“Perhaps a grebel or kapiba found its way into the water line?” Sheba wondered aloud. She pressed her fingertips to the pipe. It certainly contained water.

“don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry,” something gargled from inside the pipe. Sheba’s face lost all color. It was certainly no grebel.

“I-is someone in there?” Finch asked looking at her with concern.

“H-how should we know?” Sheba replied, but she couldn’t think of any other reason a pipe would be talking.

“Well, there’s water in there, right? And you’re a water blade,” Finch said. “Can’t you do something?”

Sheba swallowed. She was uncertain what Finch wanted and would be quite content leaving whatever this was be, but she placed her hands back on the pipe. Feeling for the ether within the water, she could feel it flowing down the tube. Initially, she had assumed it would be full but only detected water in the bottom half. She pulled a bit of it upward to block the water and stop the current. If she gathered enough at one location, she would burst the pipe.

The thing inside howled. It pounded and scratched the inside of the tube wailing “don’t cry” repeatedly. Sheba shrieked and backed away dropping the water back down. “don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry!” the thing roared. Then it fell silent.

“Finch, I do not believe it desires our help,” Sheba said looking at her feathered companion.

Finch blinked back looking a little rattled herself. “Me neither,” she agreed.

“Then let us make haste and depart from this sordid affair,” Sheba said. Finch nodded, and the pair continued down the corridor with footsteps a bit more hurried than they had been.

It wasn’t long before they reached the end. Finch swung the torchlight up revealing a pair of sliding doors blocking their way with a leafy sprout icon printed on them and some unreadable text below it. “Huh. Wonder what that means,” Finch said. She swept the torch to the sides and found a small button near the door. “Let’s see what’s behind door number three~” she said pressing it. Unseen gears whined in response. “Gyah!” Finch cried as a bright light flooded out the separating doors. Sheba also flinched as it bombarded her own eyes, but her heart sped as she reasoned it must be sunlight.

“Onwards!” Sheba said as her excitement bubbled into her tone. “Make haste, Finch!”

“But my eyes!” Finch shouted shielding them with her palms but with a tone that didn’t give Sheba any reason for pause. Sheba said nothing as she stepped into the blinding void.

After a few minutes, her eyes adjusted allowing her to see once more, but she was not greeted by the sun and sky as she had expected. Columns of plants lined a large room in a bizarre assortment of racks, trays, and tubing. The foliage grew thick and some of it even reached out to cling to the pipe system that interspersed the aisles. A number of lamps affixed throughout the room provided the plants with false sunlight. Sheba watched some sort of mechanical device travel along a rail and stop to examine one of the trays. It reached out with a small arm and removed a glistening barbed tomato from within it and deposited it into a compartment below.

“Whoa! That’s cool!” Finch said dashing up to watch the automaton pick more tomatoes.

“We have never encountered anything like this,” Sheba murmured walking into the room.

“Florence would love this. It’s like a farm,” Finch said plucking a unripened bright fig from one of the trays next to her.

“Indeed,” Sheba replied absently. She could feel water flowing through the pipes as she ran her fingers along them.

“What do they need stuff this for?” Finch asked leaning over to look into one of the lower trays.

Sheba put her index finger to her lip and considered the question. “We do not know. Perhaps there is little access to food otherwise.”

“Yeah, but why not just grow stuff on the titan?” Finch asked.

“It… perhaps the titan has bad soil?” Sheba suggested as she followed Finch down through the aisles. “We believe places such as the Argentum Trade Guild have similar issues.”

“Or maybe there’s not even a titan,” Finch muttered flapping her arms as she trotted ahead.

Between the water, light, and open space, Sheba felt far more energetic. She summoned her tub and slid down into the cool water. “A ship with no titan? We do not see the appeal of such a thing,” she said as her head bobbed near the surface. While it wasn’t a foreign concept and they had encountered a ship with no titan before, she dread to think that’s where they were now.

“Hey, Shirley, look,” Finch said pointing to the right. Sheba rose from the water and sat on the lip of the tub to get a better view. Another door stood at the far wall but, more importantly, had what appeared to be a map posted beside it.

“You know? I bet they have those all over, but since it’s all dark we just didn’t see ‘em,” Finch remarked. Sheba snorted, but silently admitted Finch could be right.

Floating near it, Sheba dove through the water and lifted herself up at the bow of her tub supporting her weight with her hands. Finch swung her arms over the lip to hang onto the tub at Sheba’s left. It dipped slightly under her weight, and she swished her arms in the water as she, too, stared up at the map.

Sheba’s eyes focused on the lines scanning the image for any information she could glean. The words were nothing she recognized, but the diagram of the ship was quite understandable.

“I believe we are here,” Sheba said pointing to a room marked with the same sprout icon. She traced the hallways with her finger with a furrowed brow. “It appears we are near the front of this ship. If we follow along this hallway,” she said pointing at the door next to the sign, “we should come to a ladder that will lead us outside.” Sheba’s finger ran along a shaft that continued off the top of the diagram.

“Well, come on! Let’s go then!” Finch shouted pumping both fists into the air.

Sheba nodded and slid toward the back of her tub as Finch pressed the door’s button She jumped as she felt Finch’s leg swing around her as the smaller blade hopped onto the back of the tub to straddle Sheba from behind. Finch’s arm then snaked around her waist, and Sheba couldn’t fight the heat rising to her face as the soft, warm feathers cradled her snugly against her bare side. She was glad Finch couldn’t see her face.

“The door’s gonna close again,” Finch said kicking her feet splashing the bathwater and snapping Sheba from her daze. Sheba maneuvered the tub through the door, and Finch shone the torch ahead them.

It was a short ride before they came to the ladder and Finch hopped off. Sheba felt a tinge of disappointment but shook it away. Dispelling her tub, Sheba glanced around wondering what she had done with her candle as Finch shone the torch up the ladder. Sheba peered up and could spy a hatch a level above and exactly where said it would be. Her heart raced in excitement. “Just a bit further and we shall be free of these oppressive shadows,” Sheba said. Finch grinned up at her.

“We are so over this horrid place,” Sheba said as she gripped the rungs and began climbing. Curling her toes around the lower bars, she made her way up as Finch’s torch trailed behind her.

Shortly, she came upon the hatch. A large valve jutted from the center likely holding it shut. Instead of turning it, she first pressed her hand against the smooth metal hoping it simply wasn’t sealed, but it refused to move to her light pressure. “We suppose that would be too easy,” she muttered with a sigh. She then reached up to turn the valve but found it quite tight. Clinging to it, she adjusted her footing so she could apply more force.

Despite the screams of pain coming from her shoulder, Sheba shoved the valve with all her might until it finally yielded and spun a quarter turn. Sheba smiled hastily spinning the valve between her hands. They were so close. Perhaps they were were in some port, and they could simply go home. At minimum, she would have some fresh air.

Suddenly, she felt herself being whisked backwards and plummeting back down the ladder. She lurched to a sudden stop despite her legs still dangling below her and found herself staring into the flickering lenses of Hyde’s mask.

“Open that… and it will be… the last thing… you do...” he said voice grave and menacing. Sheba swallowed -- eyes wide. Hyde placed her on the ground, and it did not escape Sheba’s notice that he had lifted her with only one arm. While she certainly took special care of her figure, even she should still weigh enough for no one of normal strength to do that.

Finch’s feathers brushed against her side, and scaly fingers slipped between her own. Sheba’s heart fluttered a little despite herself. “Doc, we wanna go outside,” Finch said tightening her grip a little as she spoke.

Hyde turned his head to look at the much smaller blade. “I cannot... allow that…”

“And why not?!” Sheba shouted. Hyde’s mask slowly swung over her staring expressionlessly into her. Sheba shrank back from that tall, looming blade.

“If you value… your lives…” Hyde muttered turning away, “you won’t… be going… outside… ”

Sheba’s heart sank as their situation became clear to her. The threats were explicit. If they tried to leave, he would kill them. “Do you intend to keep us stored away like some sort of possessions?! Are we your prisoners?!” she screamed.

Hyde said nothing instead turning the small valve on his lantern dimming it. “There is… nothing for you… there… I will return you to… your rooms…” he finally said 

“We will do no such thing!” Sheba replied squeezing Finch’s hand. For some reason, the contact had made her feel braver.

Hyde suddenly whirled back toward them. “You will…” he said. “By compliance…” He drew near slowly. The lenses of his mask once again caught the light from his lantern as he curved over her bringing his hooked beak inches from her nose. “Or by force…” he finished.

Sheba saw her reflection in his lenses - eyes wide with terror, skin pale and drained. What bravado she had fell away. Nothing was stopping this blade from crushing her skull in his palm.

“Fear… not…” Hyde said. “Listen to me… and no harm… will follow…”

Sheba nodded fighting back tears. Her mind raced thinking of all the reasons this blade could want them. Perhaps he was a trafficker intending to sell them or perhaps he had even more depraved intentions.

Hyde retreated a few paces back into the dark hallway almost appearing to merge with the shadows. “Come…” he commanded.

Sheba obeyed dragging Finch behind her squeezing the rough fingers between her own. The dark corridors twisted and blurred together as she followed Hyde’s lantern halo. She thought of running, but there would be no escaping him here. It was clear from the effortless way he navigated it that he was minotaur of this maze. She glanced at Finch who wore her usual glazed if somewhat sleepy-looking expression.

They came to a stop in front of another door. Hyde opened it and ushered them in. Sheba glanced around recognizing it as the room where she had woken up. Finch trudged toward the sole bunk and hopped up onto it. She kicked her feet as they dangled off the side holding the torch between the knees.

“Staying… together…?” Hyde murmured. Finch nodded. Hyde then turned to Sheba. He pointed toward the corner of the room, and Sheba squinted into it. Reluctantly, she walked over and found a candelabrum. “I will… bring more when... I return…” Hyde said as she picked it up.

Finch handed her a candle from the nightstand, and Sheba used the fire to light the candelabrum.

“Stay put…” Hyde ordered softly as he drifted out of the room. The door once again slammed, and Sheba heard the lock click.

After placing the candelabrum back on the corner table, Sheba took seat next to Finch. Picking the lock again would be no issue, but she wondered if perhaps Hyde would be waiting in the corridor for her. She rubbed her eyes collapsing back onto the bed.

“You okay, Sheila?” Finch asked peering over.

“In what world would we be okay?” Sheba growled. “We have been drug through the desert, nearly eaten by a giant spider, and fallen into the cloud sea escaping death only to find ourselves captive in a horrid, umbrageous labyrinth of metal! No, Finch, we are not okay! We are cold; we are scared; we are in pain; and we...” Sheba sniffled fighting back the tears that had returned to sting her eyes. She missed her driver and sibling blades. Any one of them would know what to do now, but she was at a loss. It had all been her doing, had it not? She had followed Finch blindly knowing full well of her memory issues. She had shouted and attracted the arachno. She had put no forethought toward escaping the vortex. She was merely a fool who only knew how to look pretty, and now she and Finch were paying the price. Why must she always be the sucker? Tears streamed down Sheba’s face.

Finch crawled onto the bed. She sat on her knees and looked down at Sheba her green eyes laced with concern. Embarrassment assailed Sheba. She didn’t want Finch or anyone to see her cry. Finch placed her hand on Sheba’s cheek and wiped a tear away with her thumb.

“I want to go home,” Sheba sobbed.

“Then let’s go,” Finch replied with a little grin.

Sheba blinked. Had their encounter not perturbed her in the slightest? “But what about…” she whimpered glancing at the door.

“Who cares if Doc doesn’t want us to go?” Finch replied scowling.

“What if he tries to stop us?” Sheba asked meekly.

“Then it’ll be Bang! Zoom! To the moon!” Finch said punching her palm. “We’ve fought WAAAAAY bigger things than him. You and me can take ‘em!” Finch pretended to box the air in front of her. The corner of Sheba’s mouth lifted. “Plus, we won’t get anything done crying about it.”

“We were not crying!” Sheba lied wiping her eyes with her the backside of her hand. She could feel her face coloring even more in spite of herself.

“Some-one’s blush-ing~?” Finch said stressing each syllable and giving a sly grin.

Sheba blanched. “W-we are not!” she said retreating across the bed.

“You’re not?” Finch asked her face returning to her typical sleepy expression. She pressed her finger to her mouth and rolled her eyes up in thought. “I think you’re cuter when you blush than when you cry, so I prefer that.”

Sheba’s jaw dropped. The color returned in full force and her face began to feel like it was on fire. “We were not crying OR blushing!” she protested.

“Are you sure?” Finch asked crawling toward her. “I think you’re lying, but it’s too dark to see.” Sheba tried to move away but her back pressed against the headboard. Finch kept crawling toward her until she straddled Sheba’s legs. All but sitting in her lap, her face drifted inches from Sheba’s own.

Sheba doubted anyone would be unable to see her face no matter how dark it was. It had grown so hot that she was certain it was glowing. Sheba’s heart caught in her throat as she stared up. Finch’s half-lidded gaze looked almost sultry in the candlelight. Her petite lips parted. Sheba held her breath as Finch’s face drew even closer and her hands clasped Sheba’s shoulder. Sheba closed her eyes and puckered her lips only vaguely prepared for what she expected.

“Don’t cry, Sheila,” Finch said. Sheba opened her eyes to see tears streaming down Finch’s face. It wasn’t the silly expression from before. The pain and guilt etched into her face felt like a slap to Sheba’s cheek. “I’m sorry I got us into this, but don’t cry,” Finch said though her sobs. Sheba’s heart sank. Was she blaming herself for this?

A few of Finch’s tears dripped onto Sheba’s stomach, and Finch wiped her face in the cloth of her vambraces sniffling. Sheba reached forward and pulled Finch’s head to her chest. “I don’t want you to cry either,” Sheba whispered stroking Finch’s downy scalp.

“I really messed up, though,” Finch whimpered wrapping her arms around Sheba.

An odd feeling bubbled in Sheba’s chest. “We… feel the same,” she said.

“Huh?” Finch asked her sobbing reducing.

“We feel we had a hand in ensuring our present circumstances. If you ‘messed up’ then so have we. It was our own folly that allowed for this, so we do not believe you shoulder this burden alone. We both “messed up” so we both share blame,” Sheba said softly. “But I… We believe your words held wisdom. Tears will not serve us. If we wish to return to our drivers, it will only be done by our hand, and should anyone attempt to stop us then it, again, will be as you said: ‘Bam. Vrooom. To the moon!’”

Finch started giggling against her chest. Sheba frowned. “And what is so funny?” Sheba demanded offended that Finch would laugh at anything she had said.

“I didn’t say that,” Finch said between a fit of giggles. “I said ‘Wham. Boom. To the moon!’”

Sheba squinted and her brows knitted together. Finch of all people was correcting her memory? “No. We are certain it was ‘Bam. Vroom.’”

“Then you’d be wrong~” Finch said stressing each syllable. “It was ‘Wham. Boom.’ I’m sure of it,” she said nodding once.

“We are not wrong! You said ‘Bam Vroom’!” Sheba protested sealing the conversation’s devolvement into petty argument.


	3. Tangled Fingers

The door swung open, and Sheba peeked around the corner into the hall. Seeing no sign of Hyde and his lantern, she stepped out. Finch nudged her arm, and Sheba caught a glimpse of her shoes dangling from her hand. Sheba smirked fighting back a fit of giggles. The finale of their little argument had involved Finch flinging her arms up and rolling backwards off the bed landing on her lost heels and leaving Sheba with a different kind of tears. After discarding her hairpin lockpick, she took the shoes and after a short debate with herself concerning whether she should put them on, tied them to her waist. The halls were far too cramped for her tub and running in heels was a splendid way to twist an ankle, after all.

The plan was simple: backtrack to the exit hatch and then find a way off the ship. Should Hyde try to stop them, Finch had her hammer and Sheba had the water in the walls. Finch would defend her long enough to blast Hyde with as much liquid as she could gather. Hopefully it would be enough, but if not, the torch might be heavy enough to double as a club of sorts. Sheba hoped not to even have to try that approach, though. 

The electric torch produced far more light than the little candle had, and shining it down the corridor allowed her to see the pipework along the bulkheads much better. She ran her finger along one wondering what the purpose of all the valves and pumps were. Most seemed empty, but she had never seen a ship with something like it. It struck her as a complete waste of money if it truly served no purpose, but she shook her head with a frown dismissing the query. It wasn’t her money, so it didn’t matter.

Peering behind her, Sheba tried to recall the map from before. She had a vague idea of the direction they had come to get back here and was certain they were three levels below the top deck, but everything else was fuzzy. Aimless wandering would only serve to jeopardize their chances, though, and she wasn't keen on gambling for a third opportunity to escape. She felt lucky enough that Hyde hadn’t questioned them about it the first time.

Staring at the place the torchlight faded into the shadows, Sheba gulped. “Wel, we shall accomplish nothing by standing here,” Sheba said mostly for herself and began walking.

As they crept along the corridors, Sheba tried not to blush as Finch pressed close into the small of her back. Unlike before, Finch was not nearly as relaxed. Her usually glazed eyes now darted back and forth, narrow and alert, and she clutched her hammer in her claws while stealing nervous glances down hallways and into rooms. Sheba considered taking Finch’s hand like Finch had done to her earlier, but immediately pushed the idea aside. Somehow, that seemed more frightening than another encounter with Hyde, but the strangeness of that was not lost on Sheba. She drifted back to the memory of Finch sitting atop her on the bed leaning in toward her. The anticipation and breathlessness flooded back at the mere memory. It seemed foolish in hindsight, but she had thought for a moment Finch was going to kiss her. She had merely misread the action and holding Finch’s head pressed against her bosom had made her feel warm inside, but a tinge of sadness still flickered beneath. Sheba didn’t know where that melancholy was coming from, however. She hadn’t wanted Finch to kiss her had she? The thought only made the heat in her face worse, so she pushed the idea out.

It was of little help. The small blade was currently stealing her breathe with every feather that tickled across her bare back, and Sheba didn't know why. She didn’t want to know why. It scared her. It scared her in a way unike Hyde or  _ The Inquisition, _ and to the best of her current memories, she’d never felt this way. The notion of love blipped across her mind once more, but she rejected it almost as quickly as it appeared. Finch didn’t have shapely legs or perky breasts or anything even resembling a figure. She shared more traits with those ugly terkins than with humans and had none of the qualifications for her number one. She was barely fit for the entourage. She was simply too different!

...but different was why she liked being around her wasn’t it? Sheba didn't want Finch to be like the others, and the notion of Finch treating her the way the other blades did made her stomach churn. The other female blades all maintained an upsetting level of distance from Sheba. Was she somehow to blame for snuggling close to a warm body as she slept or the occasional, mostly accidental, groping? The answer never seemed to matter, and when lodgings were tight enough to require sharing- which seemed to be always, it quickly became common for her to end up forced into bed with Finch by simple process of elimination. Sheba had initially been indignant, of course, but that only served to push the others even further away. She knew she would never build an entourage if she always made herself the least likeable blade in the room, so Sheba began to bite her tongue on the matter. Resigned to her fate, she eventually came to think of it as sleeping with a particularly large and fluffy stuffed animal and made at least degree of peace with the arrangement.

Sheba would have simply left it at that, but Finch had a way of disarming people. Be it through a practical joke, sly teasing, or a sudden gesture of kindness, Sheba had watched Finch slip past the defenses of even the most guarded members of their ensemble. It was a trait shared only by, perhaps, Poppi, and if Sheba were honest with herself, she envied it a little.

Apparently, proximity was all Finch required to call someone her friend, and Sheba’s cold shoulder and pointed remarks had done nothing to deter the plumed pygmy. Unlike the others, Finch gave no level of regard toward trifling matters such as personal space. If it wasn’t hanging on her tub, it was announcing to everyone within earshot whenever something dirty crossed Sheba’s mind or dragging her to some Architect-forsaken place to look for bugs or chocolate or whatever she wanted at the time. Finch was frustrating, bothersome, and couldn’t even remember her name, but despite this, she had also somehow become her closest friend. It was for that reason alone she had spared no thoughts in returning to the whirlpool.

Sheba stared into the gloomy hallway of  _ The Inquisition _ wondering how Finch would even fare alone. Despite her anxiety, Sheba couldn’t bring herself to regret her decision. These distasteful circumstances could be handled together. She glanced back and smirked at the exaggerated expressions Finch was making into all the empty rooms. They came upon a fork, and Sheba walked into the wall as she focused more on the blade behind her than the hallways ahead.

“Shari, you know you’re not a ghost, right?” Finch asked with a sleepy grin.

“We are aware,” Sheba replied rubbing her nose -- glad that the shadows hid her blush. She shone the torch down the new hallways not finding much of interest.

Sighing, Sheba closed her eyes and tried her best to summon the map she had seen at the indoor farm once more. Given how far they had walked, she wagered Hyde had taken them toward the rear of  _ The Inquisition. _ She recalled a set of stairs running the full height of the lower deck around the center of the stern part of the ship, and if she wasn’t mistaken, it should be close by. She opened her eyes but could only stand and blink as she stared at the fork once more. That information was useless without first knowing whether they were on the port or starboard side of the ship. Scoffing to herself in irritation, she took the left hallway. They should at least eventually hit the hull wall if they kept going in one general direction. She wasn’t entirely confident she could distinguish between the bulkheads and the hull itself, but she would cross that bridge when she came to it.

After a short distance, they came upon another fork. “Wow. Everything looks the same here,” Finch said and voicing a sentiment Sheba had felt from the beginning.

Sheba sighed. “Assuredly so,” she lamented, “but it does explain why they would need a wall map.”

“We only found one of those though,” Finch replied. “I haven’t spotted another one… or at least I don’t re-mem-ber seeing another.” She squinted her eyes conspiratorially prompting Sheba to roll her’s. There was no doubt the smaller blade would have made a big commotion if she had.

Suddenly, something rushed by Sheba’s feet. Shrieking she leapt into the air fumbling with the torch and almost dropping it. She whirled the beam around targeting it at whatever had touched her only to spy a small, wheeled machine polishing the floor. Little brushes spun along its front and a small light blinked on its back. “Eh?” was all Sheba managed to say.

“Hey, that’s pretty cool,” Finch said romping over and picking the machine up. She held it to eye level looking into the camera lens on its front as though it were a peephole. The brushes extended out from the machine and pressed into Finch’s chest still whirling. “Whoa! Hey, stop! That tickles!” she said squirming and laughing. 

Finch placed the device back on the ground, and it immediately returned to its business zipping away without protest. “If they have a gadget for cleaning the floors and picking food, you think they have stuff like that for everything?” she asked turning around. “‘Cause if they did and they had another one to fix all the other machines, you wouldn’t need anyone to run this ship. It could just take care of itself.”

Sheba tilted her head and frowned. A ship that could take care of itself? She was no inventor, so she couldn’t say whether such a thing was possible, but the idea sounded rather nice at least. Even people with no knowledge of seafaring could travel on something like that, and they could spend their entire time in leisure at that. If it was possible, certainly someone would want to make it, and it was evident that whoever built this vessel had an exceptional grasp of salvaged technology. The farm was evidence enough of that. It also may explain why they hadn’t seen anyone other than Hyde.

But then what of Hyde himself? Was he merely a passenger? Did he control the ship? Why was he the only one aboard? Where was his driver? That one potential answer brought forth so many questions, and the more Sheba saw of  _ The Inquisition, _ the more the feeling that something was fundamentally off about it nagged at her.

“Earth to Sheila. Come in Sheila!” Finch said through cupped hands and bouncing on her toes.

Sheba blinked. “Y-yes?” she asked focusing on the shorter blade.

“You weren’t listening,” Finch grumbled crossing her arms with a huff. “I asked have we been here before… Or at least somewhere like this?“

Sheba glanced around swinging the light across the walls. “How are we to know?” Sheba asked a little tersely. “This looks like every other corridor in this forsaken ship.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Finch said flinging her arms in the air. “I don’t remember, but I wouldn’t know I didn’t remember until I remembered, but then if I remembered I wouldn’t have to ask if I remembered because I remembered, you know?” Finch said nodding to herself.

Sheba blinked not sure she followed. “Huh?” was all she could muster in reply.

Finch groaned throwing her head back. “Is this my first time on this ship?” she asked.

“To the best of our knowledge it is,” Sheba replied completely baffled as to why Finch would ask that question now. Finch had been awakened before her, so it was possible she had, but there was no way for Sheba to know for certain.

Finch frowned and crossed her arms looking down in thought. “It just feels familiar... like I’ve been here. Like… watch.” She darted over to a doorway putting her hand on the lever. “One of the backup generators is controlled from this room,” she said swinging the door open.

Sheba followed her in. A rather large machine dominated the small room. Huge cables stretched down from the ceiling and clamped into it on both ends.

“I bet I could get the lights on if I turn this generator on,” Finch said as she traipsed up to the panel on the machine. She adjusted a couple knobs then flicked a switch, and the machine began to whir. A moment later the lights above them flickered to life. They were quite dim, but they provided at least modest level of visibility even without the torch.

Flabbergasted, Sheba’s jaw hung open. She poked her head back into the hallway finding it equally as lit. “Do you mean that you could have done that at any time?” she asked swinging back into the generator room.

“Huh? Oh, no,” Finch said shaking her head. “I only remembered when that little cleaner bot tried to polish my core crystal.” Finch gave her a wide grin and put her hands behind her head.

Sheba blinked her jaw still slightly agape. Had Finch actually been on this ship before? Or perhaps it was a memory from a past life? She had read once that blades could sometimes recall things from their time with prior drivers. “D-Do you know how to leave?” she asked excitement bubbling up despite herself.

Finch’s eyes went wide as she gasped. “Hey, that’s a good idea! Let me see!” Sheba rolled her eyes but bit her lip as Finch furrowed her brow, closed her eyes, and pointed at her head. “Umm… Let’s see…” she said swaying sideways at the hip. After a moment, she sighed and frowned. “Sorry, Shelly. Not a thing.”

Sheba sighed as well. She supposed a beggar doesn't get to manage portfolios. The lights were good enough. She hooked the torch to her waist, and reentered the hallway. “Hey, wait up! It’s still kinda dark,” Finch whined from behind. Sheba agreed. The lights helped, but they were still too dim to see things without squinting. Sighing, she flicked the torch back on.

Finch didn’t stick quite as close as she had before instead choosing to amble a bit ahead. Her usual cheer had supplanted her nervousness and she swung her arms forward and backward in unison humming something under her breath.

Meanwhile, Sheba’s thoughts drifted. If Hyde hadn’t already found out they had escaped, he would certainly know now. She shuddered. She didn’t want to imagine what that hunchbacked monster may try to do to them. Her heart lurched as she heard footsteps that weren’t Finch’s or her own.

Sheba held her hand out grabbing Finch. The smaller blade looked at Sheba before turning her head toward the heavy footsteps filtering down from the floor above. Sheba’s heart settled as she realized that meant they were safe.

“Think that’s Doc?” Finch asked. Another set of footsteps joined the first. Sheba furrowed her brow.

“Perhaps,” Sheba replied. “But if so, he’s not alone.” More footsteps joined until it sounded as though a whole crowd of people were pacing along the deck just above them. Finch turned back with a bewildered stare that mirrored Sheba’s own expression. Sheba swallowed. Something about the footsteps made her more than uneasy. They had yet to encounter a single person beyond Hyde, and between the lighting and dust, the ship for all intents felt abandoned. Why, then, was there suddenly so much activity? Before she even had the chance to pondered this, the footsteps all stopped.

The sudden silence was even more unsettling. It reminded Sheba of something right out of a ghost story. Sheba chuckled nervously. She was letting her imagination get the better of her. The crew must have all been asleep, so obviously it was now just morning and everyone was getting up. She nodded to herself feigning satisfaction. All the empty beds she had seen through open doors nagged at her, and even if she was somehow correct, that came with its own host of issues. If Hyde had some interest in their captivity, she doubted any associates would be much more than slavers or pirates. In either case, she had no desire to know who was stomping about.

“We believe it best not to dawdle,” Sheba said marching hurriedly down one of the corridors. Finch nodded and traipsed behind her saying nothing more.

To all outward appearances, Sheba seemed quite collected, but any attempts to calm herself had failed. She wanted to sprint down the hall and find the hatch as soon as possible, but footsteps, strange voices, and creepy hunchbacks haunted her imagination. Furthermore, the inadequate lighting was making it even worse as she kept spying shadows and figures from the corner of her eye only to find pipes and machines when she turned to check.

A scraping noise came from the ceiling followed by a clawing sound like a large animal climbing through it.

“What’s that?” Finch asked.

“Uhh… “ Sheba whimpered. The scraping and clawing silenced directly above them.

Sheba squealed as something fell to the ground behind her with a loud clatter, and all but jumped a few steps forward. Whirling around to face the sound, Sheba shined the light down the hallway as something soft plopped to the ground as well. Some sort of  _ thing _ was picking itself up from atop the ventilation grate that had fallen to the ground. It looked at them with four, glowing eyes where its gnarled and tattered blue skin gave way to tendrils erupting from its face. Glowing crystals jutted from its body at strange angles and resonated with ether in a way unlike any blade. The creature shrieked as it limped toward them. It was the kind of scream that curdled blood and curled wallpaper: just inhuman enough to sound wrong. Sheba grabbed hold of Finch’s arm without thinking.

“Whoa! What the heck is that?!” Finch shouted. Her voice quivered. The monster flexed a four pronged, claw-like appendage as it drew closer. Sheba backed away pulling Finch along with her. Finch drew the hammer from her back and hid them behind its shield form.

The creature lurched toward and slammed the four tentacles of its hand into Finch’s shield staggering back as the force of its own attack unbalanced it. Finch broke away and rushed forward returning her weapon to its hammer form before crashing it into the monster. It made no sound as it was slammed into the wall. Finch backed away as the creature slid down the bulkhead.

For a moment, it didn’t move and Finch stole a glance at Sheba. The monster fell forward lifting itself with its more human, five fingered arm. Finch dropped her hammer to the ground then held her palms out sending a blast of fresh air at the thing. It flung upward smashing against the overhead before crashing back to the ground a good distance away. 

They waited. Finch lifted her hammer once more, yet the creature still rose to stand making a bizarre, choking noise in the process. “Kuh kuh kuh.” Sheba swore it was laughing. The crystals in its body took on a mildly greener hue, and it lifted its four-pronged appendage. Suddenly, they were being pelted by gale force wind.

Finch held her shield in front of her, but the width caught the gust like a parachute sending her flying back into Sheba where they both crashed into the wall behind them. Sheba struggled to untangle herself from the smaller blade as the monster limped slowly toward them. Finch hopped back up preparing to charge the creature, but Sheba grabbed her shoulder.

“We do not see a point in further investment when we can get what we want for free” Sheba said brow furrowed intently as she stared at the monster still shambling toward them. If that was as fast as it could move, it would be easily outrun. Finch furrowed her own brow not following along. “We don’t have to fight it,” Sheba said, “Let us simply flee!” Finch’s eyes widened in understanding, and she glanced back at the creature before nodding in agreement.

Finch returned her hammer to her back, and the pair darted down an adjacent corridor. “What was that?” Finch asked again when they were far enough away.

“We… we are not certain,” Sheba admitted panting and beyond thankful she hadn’t put her heels back on.

“It had core crystals stuck all in it,“ Finch said. Sheba nodded, but she hadn't a clue what that implied.

Something slammed against the opposite side of the door she had her back to, and Sheba screamed diving into Finch. 

“Let me in, Martha! It’s Sunday!” a masculine voice wailed. Sheba furrowed her brow. It sounded almost normal. “It’s not funny, Martha! I can’t be outside on Sunday!” The battering on the door intensified. Sheba clutched Finch’s feathers between her fingers as whatever was on the other side simply hammered at the metal door. “Let me in, Martha! Let me in!” it howled never once even touching the lever.

“Who is Martha?” Finch asked. Sheba didn’t know, but she had no intentions of finding out who this lunatic was yelling at, so once again she pulled Finch away down the hall.

Aimlessly, they raced through the ship, but after a few minutes, they slowed to a stop once again. Sheba’s heart pounded in her ears. Taking a deep breathe, she looked back and realized she had Finch’s talon in a death grip. Quickly releasing it with only a mild blush, Sheba exhaled. She could still hear the pounding on the door, but the words were now too muffled to understand. More heavy footsteps filtered from above.

“Shelly… let’s not stand around,” Finch said gripping her hammer. Sheba nodded and followed Finch’s lead down the corridor. Sticking close, Sheba shone the light ahead, and the ship seemed to quiet down again.

After rounding a corner, Finch froze. A few paces ahead a creature similar to the one from before sat huddled on the ground in the center of the corridor. It rocked back and forth with its tentacles wrapped around its knees scratching at the crusty, blue skin flaking around the large crystal protruding from its back. Despite the torchlight, it didn’t seem to notice them and simply stared ahead to the pipework on the wall.

“Why isn’t it attacking?” Finch asked gripping her hammer tighter.

Sheba’s heart raced in her chest. Without replying, she backed away pulling Finch along with her, but keeping the light squarely on the creature. It turned its head toward them, and Sheba’s heart leapt to her throat, but after a lingering moment, the creature returned to its rocking as though it hadn’t seen them at all or, perhaps, hadn’t understood what it saw.

The door behind Sheba slid open, and she turned around to face the sudden noise. Four pairs of glowing eyes stared down at her. The creature screamed like someone who had just torn their arm ripped off, and Sheba let out a shriek of her own tumbling backward over Finch and dropping the torch in the process.

The ether of its eyes and crystals were still clearly visible in the darker lighting as the monster watched the torch roll along the floor. Sheba dove to snatch it back up, and the monster smashed a tendriled arm into her side sending her soaring toward the bulkhead. Her head collided with a valve, and she crumpled to the floor.

“Sheila!” she faintly heard Finch yell as she held her head dazed. Only half-thinking, she lifted the flashlight and shone it on the monster in time to see Finch slamming her hammer into it. The creature caught it in its tentacled hand ripping it away. It swung its other hand forward grabbing Finch around the torso with the tentacles of that arm, and Finch’s face contorted in pain as it crushed her in its grip.

Sheba stood up and brough the blunt end of the torch down on the monster’s back and then again into its head. It dropped Finch whirling around to grab Sheba instead. One if its tentacles wrapped around her throat and the others squeezed the air from her lungs. Sheba clutched at the tentacle curled around her neck as the beast slammed her into the ceiling. It then smashed her into the walls flinging another door open in the process before it threw her in.

A third beast thrashed around the room clutching its head in its hands. Whirling around, it stopped as Sheba landed behind it. For a moment, time seemed to stand still as Sheba stared at it. It then broke into a full sprint toward her with jagron-like speed. Sheba curled into a ball to protect her head with her arms. Unable to do anything more, tears streamed down her face. The monster jumped sailing clear over Sheba and landed on the other, larger creature smashing its face with its palm.

The monsters grasped at one another. Their tentacled fingers tangled together as the larger one clutched the hand the other had repeatedly slammed into its face prompting the smaller one to bite the larger instead. Both monsters wailed, and despite this, she could see the first creature still sitting in the hallway behind them still rocking back and forth as if nothing was happening.

Fluffy arms wrapped around Sheba, and she felt herself being lifted. Finch slung her arm over her neck pulling her away from the two creatures scuffling behind them. Sheba’s heart raced, though she didn’t know if it was the fighting behind her or Finch’s arms that was causing it. They passed through another doorway into a completely different corridor before Sheba pushed off.

Finch looked warily behind pulling her hammer from her back. “Th-thank you,” Sheba said watching her. Her head still swam a little from the impact with the valve, but she reasoned that she should be in good enough states if she could stand. Finch grinned at her which helped Sheba relax if only slightly. Sheba turned to the dark corridor and realized she was somehow still clutching the torch, so she shone it down the empty hallway.

“We gotta vamoose,” Finch said taking her hand. Sheba lit the way as Finch pulled her along.

After a short distance, Sheba swallowed the knot in her throat. Her thoughts should be consumed by these things they had seen, but all she could focus on as they darted aimlessly through this labyrinthine ship was Finch’s hand around her own. It wasn’t as though it was some bombshell blade hold her hand. It was just Finch. It shouldn’t be so distracting, but it was. Every single time. It wasn't fair that such a small act could mean so much to Sheba and so little to Finch. Finch would be doing the same with any other blade. She felt tears welling up before something caught the corner of her eye. 

Sheba halted pulling Finch back. Her heart skipped a beat as she recognized the symbol on the door. She wanted to squeal in delight as she stared at the sprout. The farm and the map lay on the other side and not far beyond that the hatch to freedom. She fervently pressed the button, and the doors parted. Shielding her eyes from the blinding light, she drug Finch in behind her.

“Hey, I remember this place!” Finch chirped. Sheba smiled triumphantly and dashed through the columns of plants. She quickly found the map and door that led to the ladder and hatch once more.

“Hurry!” Sheba shouted pulling Finch much faster than the shorter blade’s legs would typically run. Sheba could barely contain her giddiness as she hammered away at the door’s button. They would escape from these dark, monster-filled hallways even if it meant having to swim all the way back to Mor Ardain. Never again would she return. She’d sooner drown at sea than stay aboard  _ The Inquisition _ any moment longer.

The doors slid apart, and Sheba blinked in confusion. Two rows of massive, human teeth blocked the hall at eye level. Despite their width, there seemed to be far too many clustered together, and drool dripped between twelve titanic incisors. The teeth parted revealing even more rows of somewhat smaller teeth. A giant, tendril covered hand reached from around it and pressed against the bulkhead at its side, and gnarled fingers reached around the door into the room. It bellowed something between a gargle and a deep, guttural moan as it pushed in.

Sheba fell back onto her haunches frozen in terror as the great beast towered over her. Its tongue raised from the back of its throat gripping and releasing the air with human fingers. The fingers grabbed her and Sheba wailed fruitlessly clawing at the ground as the behemoth inched her closer into its monstrous maw. Sheba summoned her tub over her as the teeth clamped down. She dropped back along with some cracked porcelain that had chipped away revealing the cast iron body of her tub.

Something green flew over Sheba’s head, and Finch slammed her hammer into the top of the creature’s head forcing it to bite down harder onto the tub cracking a number of its front teeth. It howled some unearthly scream and flung its arm to the side destroying columns and sending trays of plants raining down to the ground.

Pushing the bathtub out of its mouth with its tongue, the creature reared back onto its hind legs, and Sheba caught a glimpse of a large crystal embedded in its stomach. Its front legs whipped about looking far more like two uprooted trees flying about than any animal’s appendage. Sheba dove into her tub righting it with her momentum and maneuvered from beneath the monster.

One of the legs caught Finch flinging her clear across the sizable room before crashing back down and narrowly missing Sheba in the process. Sheba sped along in the direction Finch had been thrown as the behemoth barreled through the aisles behind her demolishing plants and machinery alike underfoot.

Sheba found Finch collapsed against a steel column that looked much sturdier than the ones housing the plants. She hopped out and rushed to kneel next to the downy dame. Finch groaned rubbing her head. “We advise no further attempts at flight,” Sheba said wrapping her arm around her. Finch groaned again.

The monster swung its forelegs clearing away the aisles with the ease of a child knocking down toys. It would be bearing down on them in a moment and made no effort to hide the fact as it howled at them. Sheba spied water spilling from the pipes it had broken pooling around the creature’s feet and had an idea. She tugged at the ether in the water pulling it up into the slender form of a woman. The beast spotted it and crashed its gnarled hand into the apparition leaving a dent in the floor. Sheba pulled up another as she drug Finch toward the empty tub and dropped her into it. She felt the floor rattle and pulled up another decoy. Sitting on the lip, she twirled around on her rear bringing her legs into the tub and added a few more decoys for good measure.

Leaving the titanic beast to its liquidating, Sheba rocketed toward the nearest door. Swinging the rear of the tub around to a stop against the wall, she slammed her palm into the button. She pressed it a few more times hoping it would somehow make the door open faster as she spun her head to check on the monster behind them. It had already finished clearing out the decoys and was making its way toward them away from the large puddle it had made.

The doors parted and Sheba blasted out into a wide hallway. Three misshapen figures blocked her way, but she had no time for or intentions of stopping and bowled right through a group of the smaller monsters from before.

“Eep!” Sheba cried as she realized one of them had managed to grab hold onto the front and was being drug along underneath the tub. Not slowing, Sheba slid forward. “Yaah!” she shouted bringing her heel to its face. The monster’s head flung back from the impact and Sheba kicked it once more dislodging it.

She maneuvered around one last creature and continued down the dim hallway. Skidding to a stop before plowing into the wall, Sheba stared up at a spiral staircase rising from below and into the ceiling. She glanced back toward the farm and could see the crystals of the creatures glowing near the far end of the hall. A chill passed down her spine as she saw a distorted smile faintly hanging in the darkness, but it and the other creatures were far enough away that they would be safe for the moment. She returned her eyes to the staircase. It was evident they had been chased back to the rear of the ship, and she wagered this was likely the main stairwell from the map. She knew it went up but wasn’t certain if it went out. She hadn’t understood that part of the map, but it was worth a try. Either way, the winding rails were too narrow for her tub.

Looking down, she set the tub on the ground and slid down into it. Finch lay huddled at the bottom, and Sheba lifted her head blushing as she was forced to lay it in her lap. The tub wasn’t exactly meant for two. Finch turned to look up at her. “We… we’re not so lucky today, huh?” she said forcing a laugh.

Sheba swallowed the knot in her throat and shook her head. Finch said nothing further only staring up at her. This served little more than to make Sheba nervous, so she found herself staring at the ornamental faucet instead of the smaller blade. “We- we would like to know if you are alright,” Sheba said softly.

“I think so,” Finch replied rolling over. “My back just hurts a lot now.”

A scream reverberated down the hall drawing Sheba’s attention. “We are not safe,” she said slowly disintegrating her tub and depositing them on the floor. “Can you walk?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Finch said rising up with a groan. She did a few stretches and touched her toes. “I’m gonna feel that in the morning,” she said wincing.

Sheba tried to look up the stairwell, but all she could see was darkness. She glanced around for the torch only to realize she must have dropped it somewhere. Sighing, she slowly began to climb the staircase.

The stairs seemed to lead on forever as Sheba’s anxious heart raced though they only climbed three levels. Sheba swallowed acutely aware that this two levels above their supposed exit hatch. The small room was largely empty aside from two more sets of stairs lead outward that met theirs. The back wall curved into the ceiling and a set of reinforced doors stood central to the flat wall opposite. This was clearly some sort of entrance or, perhaps, an exit, and Sheba held her breath as they crossed toward the large, double doors trying her best not to be too hopeful. Automatically, doors parted for them as they approached.

Consoles and meters lined the room as the ship’s bridge sprawled in front of them, but what drew her attention was the mass of windows stretching the walls. At first, she didn’t understand what she saw. The dark, blue sky stretched ahead of them as two mighty pillars reached down from the heavens along with a thrashing tornado into what seemed to be a second sky below them. Through it, she could see strange, tall, squared structures littering the ground in all directions. A few lights flickered in them and Sheba realized they were buildings even if most of them lay in rubble.

  
Running up to the window, she pressed her cheek to the glass. She could see light filtering down, and the pillars end in a giant mass. Despite the darkness, enough light filtered from above that she could faintly see a hatch between two rounded bows ahead of them. Her mind raced as the pieces began to fall into place, and something Hyde said echoed in her memory. “There is nothing for you there.” She stared in horror at the tornado, but it wasn’t a tornado. It was a whirlpool; the same whirlpool they had fallen into. Sheba collapsed into one of the chairs. There was no outside.  _ The Inquisition _ was at the bottom of the cloud sea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I suspect this chapter may raise a few questions in regards to when this story takes place in relation to the game. XC2's plot doesn't exactly leave room for anything else to happen except itself. Even the game's own sidequests don't fit, so for the purposes of this story, events through chapter 7 have taken place, but chapter 8 and beyond have not.


	4. That Promise

All Sheba could do was cradle her knees as she stared into the sprawling abyss ahead. Her escape plan was in shambles. They weren’t deep cloudsea fish. They couldn’t just swim back up to the surface. The pressure alone would probably return them to their core crystals. She pressed her forehead against her knees. They were stranded aboard this creepy ship with a hunchback and a bunch of monsters, and it was only a matter of time before one succeeded in catching them. Her stomach felt like it was churning acid, and her breathing felt laboured. Sheba fought back the tears stinging her eyes.

“Whoa! We’re super deep,” Finch said climbing atop the front console and pressing her nose to the glass. “I guess we’re really under a cloud now!” Biting her lip, Sheba fought the urge to walk over and smack Finch for her stupid joke. “I wonder if Raz has ever been this deep,” Finch added hopping down. “You think he’d know what all this stuff does?” she asked as she ran her talons across the consoles before stopping in front of one. She began rapidly pressing the buttons and twisting the dials.

Sheba furrowed her brow. “We wish to know what it is you think you are doing,” she grumbled wondering why Finch wasn’t even remotely shaken by this revelation.

“Tryin’ to see if one of these buttons makes the sub go up, of course,” Finch chirped in reply. Her words hit Sheba like a brick. Why hadn’t the idea occurred to her? This was clearly the bridge, so what was stopping them from just moving the ship themselves?

Sheba shot to her feet. Slamming her hands onto the closest terminals, she leaned over scanning the machine until she realized that she had no idea what she was looking at. Frustrated, Sheba scoffed. “Finch, do you know how to operate these?” she asked remembering what the downy dame had done with the generator. It didn’t seem as though she did, but Sheba would do no harm by asking… especially with Finch.

Finch looked back from the periscope that had distracted her. “Uhhh... I was sorta hoping you might,” she replied scratching the back of her head and looking at the floor.

Sheba’s heart sank, and she collapsed back into the chair in defeat. Her heels dug into her back, so she untied them and threw them at the floor.

“Doesn’t mean we can’t try stuff,” Finch chirped as she darted back over to press more buttons. After a minute or so, she stopped to poke at a glass square embedded in the wall. “I think it’s turned off or something. Maybe one of these has an on switch somewhere.” She craned her neck up to scan the other consoles across the room.

Frowning, Sheba flattened her brow in irritation. Despite hammering away, nothing Finch did seemed to be doing anything. Even if they did manage to start the ship, driving it would be a different matter entirely, and Sheba wondered if they would be able to figure that out as well. Sinking down into the chair, Sheba spotted a red button on the underside of the console next to her. It struck her as strange that this one button would be separate from the others. Was this the on switch?

“Finch?” Sheba called out prompting the downy dame to look up. “We have found one underneath here,” she said pointing.

“Where?” Finch said bounding over to squat next to her.

Sheba pressed the button, and it lit up followed by a pair of blinking bulbs affixed to the ceiling beneath red domes. Sheba’s eyes widened, and she swiveled her head around under the strobe light effect. Despite its silence, Sheba was certain this must be some sort of alarm or warning system. Shooting back to her feet, she darted to the door and poked her head out of the bridge to find similar lights on the other side confirming her suspicion.

“Maaaybe, ya’ shouldn’t have pressed that one!” Finch said as if she wouldn’t have done the same thing, and Sheba glared at her in reply. Finch leaned over then pressed the button a few more times. “It’s not turning off!” she added frowning.

Sheba returned to the terminal to help Finch press more buttons in hope one of them would stop the lights, but the effort proved fruitless. She bit her lip. This was only attracting unwanted attention. “We do not think it wise to stay here any longer,” she said.

Finch nodded, and they made their way toward the door. Halfway, Sheba paused. “Wait!” she said remembering her heels. Whirling around, Sheba scanned the ground for the shoes. She spotted them beneath a nearby console. Hurrying over, she dropped to her knees to crawl under and retrieve them.

When Sheba stood, she swung back around and bumped into something large and solid. She yelped and hopped back onto the terminal as she suddenly found herself staring up into two lenses. They flickered in the faint lamplight as dark, billowing fabric bled into the shadows.

Hyde grabbed her wrist holding it above her head in his free hand as he loomed over her. “I warned… you…” he murmured. “It’s-” Suddenly, Hyde jolted to the side pulling Sheba just enough to knock her off balance before he let go. She fell onto her wounded shoulder with a wince while Hyde continued further. He landed a short distance away in a heap against the door.

Finch darted between them turning her hammer into its shield form. “To the moon, Alice!” she shouted briefly grinning back. Sheba returned a small smile reaching back to touch the wall. Her heart sank as she felt almost no ether within the few pipes aboard the bridge.

Sheba swallowed as Hyde lifted himself. Eerily, his hump seemed to rise up before the rest of him. The doors parted and he tilted his head wordlessly regarding this before he drifted backward through them. Finch dashed toward the door holding her shield over the entry. Sheba followed wondering what exactly the hunchback was planning. Peeking through the shield, she spied Hyde simply standing near the stairwells patiently blocking their escape.

“Come on! We can take ya!” Finch goaded. Sheba wasn’t so sure, but she doubted they had another option.

Hyde tilted his head. After a moment, he lifted his lantern and adjusted the valve to flood the area with white light. Sheba recoiled. “If I… must…” Hyde murmured placing the lantern on the ground.

Head first, Hyde lunged shooting toward them like a bolt of lightning. Finch dove forward bringing her hammer down once more. The flat met with Hyde’s outstretched palm stopping dead in the air. Finch blinked, but dropped to the ground an instant later, sweeping her leg beneath the hunchback. Sheba couldn’t tell if Finch had tripped him or he had jumped, but Hyde twirled in the air before landing back down on three points. His mask hung low against the mass of dark fabric somehow giving him the look of a coiled aspar.

Spinning on her heels or toes or whatever, Finch swung the hammer back around. Hyde seemingly flattened into a pile of fabric to avoid the attack and inadvertently set Finch off balance. As Finch staggered to regain her footing, Hyde’s hump grew taller as his mask rose to meet it. He thrust his hand forward snatching Finch up by the same wrist that held her hammer. Dangling her, he brought her face near his mask, and Sheba gasped as Hyde slowly lifted his free hand closer toward Finch’s neck.

Having been creeping around the perimeter of the room, Sheba’s heart pounded. Hyde faced away from her, but she realized she no longer had the torch as planned. Still feeling nothing in the pipes, Sheba hurled the only thing she did have. Hyde froze as Sheba’s heel bounced off the back of his head. Sheba gulped, but for a moment, Hyde remained motionless. Suddenly, his mask twisted backward to face her, and he slowly tilted his head apparently staring at her through only one of his opaque lenses. Sheba laughed nervously then flung the other shoe striking his mask in the forehead.

Almost immediately, she was shoved against the bulkhead with Hyde’s free hand pressed against her chest. “Enough…” he growled bringing the mask’s beak inches from her nose. Sheba felt ether in the pipes jutting into her back, but there still wasn’t enough to use for anything. Finch brought her foot up crashing it into Hyde’s chin. He reared back, but Finch kept kicking as she dangled from his grip. Sheba took the opening to kick him in the gut, too, or at least what she assumed was his gut.

Hyde swatted her with enough force to send Sheba flying. She slammed into Hyde’s lantern sending it rolling down one of the three staircases and casting the fight back into the dim lighting of the ship. In the darkness, Hyde’s lenses didn’t simply flicker, but glowed outright as they swinging around like a pair of spotlights unaffected by the strobe effect of the flashing warning lights.

“Whoopsie crazy!” she heard Finch shout and caught stuttered glimpses of her bouncing around the room with her hammer. She collided with Hyde then jumped into the air and brought the hammer back down onto the ground and a burst of wind exploded in all directions sending both Finch and Hyde toppling to the ground.

Finch scrambled from her back as Hyde lifted once more apparently no worse for wear, and a thought struck Sheba. The hunchback hadn’t yet used a single ounce of ether against them. They hadn’t met his driver, but she also hadn’t seen his weapon. Was he as debilitated as they were or was he simply playing with them? Sheba didn’t care to find out and spun around feeling for the ether in the walls once more. They were virtually all empty including the small ones along the walls and the big one along the ceiling. Without her cannon or driver, she couldn’t conjure enough water for her tub, much less an attack. She wanted to scream. What was the point of so many pipes if they weren’t used for anything?

Sheba stole another glance at the fight behind her. Prolonging this would only give Hyde more opportunities to capture or harm them, so she had to think of something. She clenched her eyes trying to come up with any idea that could get rid of him when Hyde’s lantern gave her just that.

Bursting one small pipe at both ends, she pulled it from the wall. Taking what little water she could from it, she moved to pop the rivets at the seam of one section the large pipe hanging overhead. Leaving it barely suspended by one rivet on either side and creaking in protest, she placed the smaller pipe on the floor and turned back.

Heaving, Finch desperately tried to hold onto her hammer as Hyde wrest it from her hands. Tossing it aside, he crept closer tilting his head silently. Sheba darted over snatching Finch’s hand and pulling her back narrowly avoiding the hunchback’s clutches. Hyde gave pursuit as they ran toward the stairs, but instead of continuing down them, Sheba stopped and pressed Finch between herself and the wall. Hyde whirled around to stop in the archway, but his feet flew from beneath him and he tumbled into the stairwell along with the narrow pipe Sheba had laid out above the first step.

Hyde skidded to a stop midway to the next level. His mask twisted back around as he picked himself back up. Hanging in the door, Sheba smirked and waved goodbye as she popped the last two rivets. The freed section of the large pipe dropped straight down. She blinked as cloud sea water began spewing from the ceiling. Hyde vaulted over the pipe rolling down toward him, but the cloud seawater shower threw him off balance. He grabbed onto a small valve, but the water continued to pelt him. A second later, his grip slipped, and he slid down the stairs as if on a waterslide. Sheba blinked twice. That hadn’t exactly been the plan, but she was glad for the surprise no less.

“Wait? What’s happening? I can’t see!” Finch shouted still sandwiched between Sheba and the wall. Sheba quickly took a step away pretending she hadn’t just mashed her breasts into Finch’s face. Milking the moment, Finch gasped for air. She then jumped into a wrestling crouch and spun her head around. “Hey, where’d Doc go?” she asked after a moment as she straightened back up.

“We have taken care of the situation,” Sheba said stuffing her nose into the air with a smirk.

“What?” Finch asked scratching her head, and Sheba pointed to the fog wafting in the stairwell. Finch blinked at it for a second before giving Sheba a wide grin. “See? I knew we made a pretty good team.”

Sheba rolled her eyes but couldn’t help but return the smile. That was until a distorted scream echoed up the spiral staircase at the center of the room washing away any feeling of accomplishment. One little victory didn’t mean they were safe, and hanging out in the open only afforded them vulnerability. They needed to find a place to figure out what they were going to do next. The scream came again, and Sheba wasn’t sure if it sounded closer or further through the echo. She looked at Finch who replied with her own concerned stare. Though there were originally three staircases, they really had only one choice now, and Sheba crossed the room toward the far stairwell.

Sheba clenched her fists as she waited for Finch to collect her hammer. The weight of their predicament squashed what little hope she had been clinging to. She had defeated Hyde, but she knew he had only been inconvenienced at best. Creepy monsters had literally climbed out of the walls, and their only hope at escaping had been little more than a misunderstanding.

Finch returned traipsing over holding both her hammer and Sheba’s heels. Sheba had forgotten about them. After tying them back to her waist, they made their way down the stairs. If Sheba recalled the map correctly, these stairs led all the way from what she now knew as the submarine’s conning tower to the very lowest deck. Despite having their choice of level, they chose to take the stairs all the way down in an effort to put distance between themselves and the hunchback. Along the way, Sheba could hear movement and all manner of strange noises. Cradling herself in her arms, Sheba shuddered. She had thought… hoped this stairway would lead them somewhere safe, but everything on this whole ship seemed to be trying to kill them. Nowhere was safe. She swallowed the bile collecting at the back of her throat.

“So what are we gonna do now?” Finch asked after a few minutes of silence.

“We do not know,” Sheba admitted rubbing her eyes. The flashing lights were giving her a piercing headache.

Trying to move the ship themselves had been a good idea, but that was off the table at least for the moment. Even if he chose to search for them first, it was only a matter of time before Hyde returned to the bridge, and Sheba doubted he would fall for the same trick twice.

After what seemed like an eternity, they reached the bottom, and the stairwell met a perpendicular hallway. Toward the rear, the corridor visibly rounded as it followed the curvature of the ship, and three of the creatures could be seen huddled around one of the flashing lights near the wall. Opting not to try and sneak past them, they took the opposite direction.

After a short walk, the flashing alarms came to a stop flooding them back into darkness.

“Hey! Who turned out the lights?” Finch asked.

“We assume it was Hyde,” Sheba replied flatly. She took a shaky breath as the sounds of the ship became clearer with the lack of eyesight. A low groaning and the whine of something mechanical sounded closest.

After a short while their eyes readjust to the dim lights, and Sheba began peeking into the rooms they passed. Most seemed to be filled with various types of machinery, and Sheba wondered if going to the very bottom of the submarine had been the best of ideas.

As they moved through the hallways, Sheba found herself gradually having to duck to avoid hitting her head as the corridor grew tighter. She watched the tall feathers on Finch’s head brush against the ceiling as the shorter blade trotted along completely unperturbed. The whining grew much louder, and Sheba could feel hot water running through the large pipes. She pressed her hand to the wall to feel the vibrations and heat coming from whatever massive apparatus was nearby.

Passing through a glass doorway, they came upon a small room filled with large canisters. Though far larger, they reminded Sheba of the cylinders salvagers used. Huge hoses extended from the wall into the ceiling, and a set of grated lockers were attached to one of the walls. Sheba stole a peek inside one to find a set of hand tools, and a particularly sturdy-looking pipe wrench.

“Wait!” Sheba ordered grabbing the long feathers on the back of Finch’s head and jerking her to stop.

“Hey!” Finch whined rubbing the base of her scalp.

“Hush!” Sheba said pressing her ear to the locker. That wrench might prove useful. She turned the combination lock closing her eyes to listen for the tumblers. Slowly spinning the dial, she heard her first click, and a moment later, she heard the second. Sheba licked her lips. These locks typically only had three.

“don’t cry” something whispered in her other ear, and Sheba froze. She spun around to find a creature worming its way through a gap in the floor between the canisters. It had no arms, and its eyes glowed red instead of the usual blue with a third rolled up in its forehead. “don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry” it repeated forcing itself through the gap as Sheba backed away. Strangely, a dark red swirled within the blue of its crystals.

“Jeepers! How many kinds of these things are there?” Finch asked from beside her. They retreated through another glass door as the monster squeezed through the narrow space into the room proper. They shut the door as it pulled free.

“don’t cry” it continued lunging forward and ramming its head through the glass strewing shards about the floor.

“Yikes!” Finch yelped

The monster’s third eye rolled around before focusing on them, and a red, hot blast fired from it. Sheba and Finch dove in opposite directions narrowly avoiding the flames.

“Since when can they do that?!” Finch shouted.

“don’t cry don’t cry” the monster howled trying to writhe its way through the broken window. It wiggled through then flopped onto the floor.

The creature fired its beam once more, but Finch deflected it with her shield. It rolled atop the glass shards as it repositioned to stand. “don’t cry” it muttered without so much as flinching at the glass piercing its leathery skin.

Sheba whirled around scanning the room behind them. For some reason, the ceiling seemed to be an entire level above them now, but she immediately spotted a hatch across from them. She pulled Finch toward it but nearly doubled over herself once she spotted a ladder tucked away in a small alcove. Stealing another glance at the armless monster ambling after them, it wasn’t often Sheba felt she had such a clever notion. Pointing at the ladder, she shouted “Finch, it can’t climb!”

Before she could make a dash toward it, Finch wrapped her arms around Sheba’s waist. “No! Let’s go up like firecrackers!” she said. Sheba didn’t have time to be startled as a sudden updraft blasted them into the air and onto a catwalk. She landed hard on her bottom next to a large machine with Finch slung over her lap.

Another beam hit the ceiling above them scattering cinders. Sheba pushed Finch off to peer back down from the catwalk platform. In the gloom, the creature’s red eyes stared up at them illuminating how its mouth hung agape. “don’t cry” it repeated before smiling. It made Sheba’s skin crawl.

“Sharla,” Finch said sitting up. “You okay?”

“We are fine,” Sheba replied wondering why a simple question was making her blush. “Mostly…” she added rubbing her eyes to alleviate the pressure from her head.

“Come on, I don’t wanna find out if that thing can bite its way up here or something,” Finch said and hopped to her feet. Sheba wrinkled her nose as she imagined the grotesque monster trying to climb the ladder with its teeth.

Shifting away from the edge, Sheba surveyed the second level. It was clear now that they had been walking right next to a very large machine. Pipes and hoses extended in and away, but the catwalk seemed to give access to much of it. Between the monster reciting its two words over and over below and the catwalk itself stirring bad memories of the ether well, Sheba also wanted to abandon this area quickly. Halfway into the gloom, she noticed a doorway. “There!” she said pointing.

They hurried through it finding a very different set of hallways than the ones below. Unlike the other levels, these corridors seemed wider, and long windows lined the walls. Soon, they found their way into a junction where a single door stood open as a healthy amount of yellow light spilled from it.

Curious, Sheba peeked to find what appeared to be a small, windowless office of sorts. The light came from a large lamp hanging from the ceiling. A medium-length table stood in the center beneath it with two stools affixed to the ground in front of it. A pair of shelves lined one wall, and a sizeable desk occupied the other. Files and documents were scattered about haphazardly leaving the room in disarray aside from one conspicuously empty shelf.

Projected on a flat, roll-out canvas, a middle aged man sat frozen in the center of the frame within the exact same room. He wore a white labcoat with his jade hair tied in a short ponytail around the nape of his neck. A few frazzled strands had escaped to frame his face, and he appeared to be pouring over some file while tapping his fingers on his version of the desk. Though it was no longer present, Sheba reasoned there must have been a camera sitting directly on the table at the center of the room, and from what she could see of it, the room in the photo was downright orderly by comparison.

It seemed like a reasonable place to camp out and at least catch their breath, so Sheba flipped the latch and collapsed into the plush, armu leather desk chair. As Finch set about poking around the room, Sheba listlessly lifted one of the documents to examine it. Unsurprisingly, it was written in the same illegible text as everything else.

“Hey, look what I found,” Finch said raising up a small device with a lot of buttons. Sheba sighed not particularly concerned with whatever it was. Finch, as expected, pressed some buttons.

“Unfortunately not,” a deep, authoritative voice muttered. Sheba’s eyes widened, and she spun her chair to see the projected man as he turned to adjust the documents scattered about his desk.

“The procedure…” Hyde’s voice resounded through the room as he drifted into the frame, “was still a... failure… even if...”

“I know he’s dead, Hyde!” the man interrupted.

“Yes… and...” Hyde replied.

“We are past that point.” The man sighed. “But there is still much we can learn from his body. We’ll transfuse him with the raw crystals,” he said. “I’d like to know what happens if they’re introduced to a corpse.”

Hyde was silent a moment. “At best… he’ll end up… like the others...” he finally murmured.

“Which is no worse than now, and it’s worth learning the limits of their regenerative capabilities,” the man said while stroking his chin. Deep lines etched his frown.

Hyde fiddled with his lantern a moment before responding. “Then… I will… attend to it…”

“Hyde,” the man said as the blade left the frame. His tone held a tiredness. “Do you remember why we came down here?” The man spun in his chair to face the direction Hyde had gone, but the hunchback remained silent. After a moment, the man continued. “This expedition held so much promise for the future. I haven’t forgotten that promise, but what are we bringing back? We’ve found something that could be incredible if only we could understand it.”

“We have made… no progress...” Hyde replied. “There are... only so many... subjects...”

“That is exactly my point! Every bit of information we can gather will help us,” the man replied crossing his arms. “If we don’t take these opportunities, we’ll simply end up with further mindless miscreation, and there’s plenty of that down here already.”

“We are… not learning… anything...” Hyde murmured floating back into the frame.

“It may seem that way, but you know that the things we do as doctors are not always straightforward,” the man said. “I thought you understood that. Even among blades, you are quite stalwart, but the rest of us are so much more fragile. A few deaths are, frankly, to be expected.”

“Killing them… is counter… productive…” Hyde said.

The man sighed pinching his nose. “I believe that assessment is premature. Perhaps this is a dead end, but I do believe it will give us the clearest understanding. I simply ask you go along with it for now. If we see no success, we’ll try your methodology. Okay?”

“Fine…” Hyde replied. “Your way… for now…” The two stared at one another silently for a moment before Hyde turned once more.

“One more thing before you go,” the man said. Hyde looked back over his shoulder. “Would you bring the next patient here? I’m sure she’ll protest, but try your best not to damage her.” 

“Certainly…” Hyde murmured dimming his lantern. 

The man spun back to the desk to fetch the file and placed it on the table. Leafing through a book, he glanced up and looked into the camera. “Is that still on?” he asked chuckling and reached for it before the video cut to static.

Sheba blinked. She didn’t understand what she had seen. Was that man perhaps Hyde’s driver? They were clearly working together, and the man had referred to them both as doctors. It made sense to her, but what was the talk about “killing” and “subjects”? She felt her stomach churning. Things had suddenly started coming into focus, but it still felt as if she were missing a piece of the puzzle.

“I think there’s more going on here than we realized,” Finch said folding her arms and frowning. Sheba rolled her eyes. What had been her first clue?

Sheba sighed. Bringing her feet to the seat of the chair, she wrapped her arms around her knees, and frowned. She needed a moment’s rest away from the monsters that haunted this ship, so she pushed her ever-growing concerns out of her mind. She wanted to believe they were safe if only for that one moment. She felt grimy, her shoulder ached, and her head throbbed, but she took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes, she felt a little better.

Spotting something beneath the table, Sheba leaned over to pick up a glistening white feather. “Finch, look here,” she said holding it up.

Finch glanced up shoving a jar she was peeking into back onto the shelf. “Hey! That’s not mine!” she said pausing to lift her arm and examining her side. “...I don’t think.” She then reached up feeling the feathers on her head.

“We did not say it was,” Sheba said twisting the feather between her fingers to make it spin. “We simply wonder what it is doing here.”

“Maybe someone lost it,” Finch said jumping onto a stool and collapsing onto the table.

“And who here would even have such a thing to lose?” Sheba asked. “Besides you, of course,” she added standing up to tug the large feather atop Finch’s scalp.

“Ahhh!” Finch yelped, “How am I supposed to know?” she swatted Sheba’s hand away. Sheba grinned flicking the shorter blade’s nose. “Stop!’ Finch cried and covered her nose with a little glare. Sheba continued to smirk but complied. Turning back, she examined the feather once more.

The man in the video had said something insightful. Solutions to problems aren’t always apparent until you learn more about whatever you’re trying to do. This ship was massive and extremely advanced. Hyde had managed to get them aboard. Surely, if there was a way on, there must be a way off, so how had he done that? She had seen the whirlpool leading right down into those ruins. How had two unconscious blades been carried from there to here? The Inquisition had the answer aboard it somewhere, and all she had to do was find it.

Casting the feather aside, she stood up feeling a wave of confidence. She assumed it was safest to keep moving, but more importantly, that was the only way they’d ever find a way home. “Let us go,” Sheba said.

“Go where?” Finch said spinning around on the stool.

“We do not know!” Sheba said throwing the door open.

This section of the ship was quite different from the others they had seen. Along with the wide halls and long windows, there were no beds or rooms nor were there heavy equipment and machinery. Many offices and small devices littered the halls. One particular room filled with beakers and test tubes had caught their interest, but spotting one of the creatures squatting among the desks had spurred them away.

They pass through a glass wall labeled with a large one, and Sheba nearly gagged at the stark, chemical odor hanging in the air. The smell grew worse as they passed an adjacent room. Pinching her nose in her fingers, she squinted into it at the dozens of illuminated, glass tanks that lined the walls and gasped. A myriad of warped and withered figures floated within clear, pale-green liquid as four pronged hands and tendriled faces cast their bizarre shadows on the walls. For an instant, Sheba couldn’t breathe expecting them all to attack, but the monsters didn’t move. Their crystals were dull and devoid of ether like an inactive core crystal. A few even held open glazed, unseeing eyes, so Sheba assumed they were simply dead. Wires and tubes extended from them connecting to the tops of the tanks, and each one seemed to have a small console attached.

“What the heck?” Finch asked spinning in a circle as she sauntered in.

Biting her lip, Sheba approached one of the tanks. The creature within had three eyes and three arms, but what made Sheba shudder was the short and shallow heaving of its chest. It was still breathing.

Sheba took a step back -- eyes wide with shock. She spun around, and one of the tanks in the far corner caught her eye. It had shattered spilling its liquid onto the ground. Sheba assumed that was the source of the smell, but she couldn’t help but wonder if liquid had been the only thing it contained. Her mind drifted back to the monster in the office. “Horrible,” she murmured. That was the only word she could find to describe it. Whatever was happening in this room must be horrible.

“Hey, look at this,” Finch said poking at one of the consoles.

Sheba walked over careful to avoid the fluid pooled on the ground. A picture of a woman was placed prominently at the top left of the screen along with a lot of the same language the rest of the ship used filling out the rest of it. A green line spiked in a slow, steady rhythm near the top, and Sheba squinted trying to place the familiar image. Her eyes widened as she realized it was a heart monitor, and concluded that the display must be showing vitals from the tank.

Shuffling over to a second tank, Sheba examined its console as well, but what she found made her heart leap into her throat. The same profile appeared along with the same language and heart monitor, but the image was different. It was the same face she had seen in the photograph with the Indoline boys. She pressed at the console finding her way into a gallery. Shifting through the images she saw photos taken of the same man as he slowly became the monster in the tank. Sheba looked up in horror staggering backwards. These monsters were people! Was this the piece she had been missing? Sheba spun around counting the tanks along with the monsters she had seen roaming. It had to have been nearly three or four dozen, but what was the purpose of this room? Why were these creatures captive here, and why were there pictures documenting their transformation? Words from the video rattled in her head.

“Kill”

“Protest”

“Miscreation”

“Only so many”

Sheba covered her mouth as yet another piece fell into place.

“Hey Sheeva, are you okay?” Finch said frowning. “You’re looking kinda pale.”

Sheba stared down at her and shook her head which only made Finch’s expression grow more concerned. “Hyde must be making these monsters here. I think he wants to turn us into them, too.”

“What?!” Finch cried looking up at one of the tanks in dismay. “I don’t wanna be one of those kooky things!”

“Neither do we!” Sheba heaved. The stuffy air didn’t seem to have enough oxygen. How long until one of these things jumps out and mauls one of them or they get captured and used for experiments? They had no way out. They had no one to help them. Never once had she felt this alone and isolated. She was going to die on this dark, dingy submarine one way or the other. What had she done to deserve this? Was this some sort of punishment from the architect? No one would ever know what happened, and she wondered if anyone would even care.

The room was spinning. Sheba felt so helpless as the ship’s oppressive gloom suffocated her. The ship had her, and it would do with her what it wanted. She collapsed to the floor cradling her pulsating head in her hands. She sucked in as much air as she could trying to fill her incessantly empty lungs, but she couldn’t dispel the smothering sensation. She was going to be turned into one of those things. She’d crowd around lights, and scream like a lunatic, and try to kill people for no reason. She’d turn ugly both inside and out, and there wasn’t a thing should could do to stop it. Teardrops dripped into her lap.

Sheba barely registered the little arms that wrapped around her as she rapidly gasped for air. She merely clung to the warm body that rocked her back and forth while burying her face, tears, and snot into the soft feathers. A hand stroked her head as she trembled.

She stayed there for what felt like an eternity, but slowly, her breathing returned to normal, and the room settled. Finally, Sheba pushed away and looked up to find Finch staring down at her worried and dejected. The taller blade’s eyes traced down her arm to where her hand was knotted with Finch’s. Sheba blushed not quite knowing when that had happened.

Her face continued to grow hotter as her immediate behavior dawned on her. She tried to speak but any words that came caught in her mouth before leaving. Ashamed, Sheba stared at her lap unable to maintain eye contact. She kneaded one of her pigtails between her hands fighting the urge to simply start crying again.

Finch bent over to look Sheba in the face. “I’m gonna protect you, okay?” she said softly.

“Eh?“ Sheba squeaked looking up. The determination in Finch’s eyes forced Sheba’s heart into her throat along with whatever blood was left to her face. What was this absurd little blade saying all of a sudden?

“You don't gotta be scared. I might not be as good as Polly or Brigitte, but I’m still pretty good with my hammer so you don't gotta worry so much,” Finch mumbled standing back up only to look toward the ground herself. “I’ll keep you safe. I’ll even promise if you want, so don’t worry so much, okay?“ She kicked at the ground, but didn't meet Sheba’s eye.

Sheba’s heart fluttered in her chest. Who was this blade to tell her something like that? Who was this blade to always make her feel so warm and important? She was just some weird, annoying, little runt. Did she think that being nice was enough to make Sheba like her? She wasn’t remotely her type. Sheba was into strong, pretty, passionate women. Finch was goofy, clumsy, and only rarely cute. It didn’t matter if she somehow always managed to say or do the right things. It didn’t matter that she had no problems jumping between Sheba, and a giant monster eight times her squatty size. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t wiped the mucus from her stomach and would probably forget about it until she accidentally touched it again later. She drifted through life without so much as an idea of what was going on. Promises from her were meaningless. She’d only forget them five minutes later, so it didn’t matter.

But it did to Sheba. The tingling in her core crystal made it matter. She wanted to hear Finch make that promise. She wanted to hear her promise much more because it all mattered. Every idiotic comment and every feather on her silly head mattered. Sheba loved Finch, and she felt like an idiot for not realizing that sooner. Sure, Finch was nothing like Sheba’s ideal woman, but the notion suddenly felt so naive. Even the thought of her own entourage didn’t seem as important, and for the first time, Sheba started to question what it was she wanted from it.

“You… promise?” Sheba asked meekly.

Finch looked up. “Of course!’ she replied smiling broadly.

It sent a tingly wave across Sheba’s body, and her heart soared. She didn’t think her face could get any hotter. She wanted to tell Finch how she felt right then and there. “We… I.... Finch…?” Sheba babbled as her heart raced.

“What’s up, Sheila?” she asked tilting her whole body to the side.

“We…” Sheba began with a stomach full of butterflies.

Finch flapped her arms as she waited for Sheba to conjugate a sentence.

“I think I-” Sheba began. Suddenly Finch paled shoving her hand over Sheba’s mouth. For a moment, Sheba reeled - angry and unsure what had even happened until she spied the white lantern light filtering through the cracks around the door.


	5. Silent Affection

Sheba and Finch huddled behind a tank as the door swung open and Hyde wordlessly drifted inside. Gritting her teeth, Sheba seethed. How dare this hunchback have the audacity to interrupt her confession? She wanted to jump out and kick that creepy mask right off his face. Any such intent was quickly quelled as Hyde held his lantern aloft and opened the valve to illuminate the room. Sheba flinched grimacing as the bright light flared her headache.

The dark shadows cast by the tanks moved contrary to the lantern as Hyde continued toward the rear of the room. He kneeled to pluck one of the glass shards from the liquid and examined it. Holding it near the lantern, he turned it over in his hand. Twisting his head toward the shattered tank, he dropped the shard back into the pool and approached the console. “Unsurprising…” Hyde muttered as he pressed and swiped at the screen then hunched lower over the display.

Finch poked Sheba’s side then pointed at the still open door. Sheba glanced between it and Hyde who had his mask buried in the console then nodded. They crept toward the exit. While trying to peek around the base of the tank, Finch tripped over one of the thick cables and fell onto her stomach and into the open. The resultant thud caused Hyde to whirl around. Finch only barely avoided the lantern light that swallowed up the doorway. Having blown herself back with a gust of wind, she slammed into Sheba who toppled over onto her bottom. Sheba’s heart did somersaults when she found Finch suddenly sitting atop her lap and barely stifled a squeak.

They remained motionless behind the tank as Hyde investigated the entranceway while momentarily taking the light with him. Finch’s heavy breathing and warm, fluffy feathers made Sheba’s core crystal burn. Finding nothing, Hyde turned back but remained under the arches to survey the room. Sheba held her breath. Despite the dangerous blade only a stone’s throw away, she remained preoccupied with thoughts of the much smaller blade sitting in her lap. Hyde took a step forward methodically holding his lantern toward the dark corners drowning them with light. Finch retreated further into her as Hyde drifted toward their hiding spot, and the shadow of the tank shrank around them. This freed Sheba from her stupor. Still holding her breath, Sheba instinctively slipped her arms around the smaller blade cradling Finch’s petite frame.

A torrent of familiar feelings flooded her, but no longer were they nameless. Sheba clenched tighter in an effort to make them as small as possible. She didn’t want to lose those feelings, but inch by inch the shadow closed in threatening to rip them right from her arms. Hyde was nearly standing on top of them. He placed his hand on the glass leaning forward for a look behind. Any sound or movement would immediately draw his attention, so Sheba did neither. Finch’s talons dug into her thigh, but she endured the pain. Her lungs burned, but she refused to breathe. She wouldn’t let go, and maybe, somehow, they wouldn’t be spotted.

Abruptly, the tanks began to hum in unison. Metal rings descended around each emitting a pale blue light at the suspended creatures. A sharp grinding sound interrupted Hyde’s search, and he spun to face the broken tank. Its ring stuttered in place yowling unpleasantly. “Jammed…” Hyde muttered darting toward the console once more.

Sheba let out a shaky gasp as Hyde hastily pounded at the terminal. Taking the opportunity, Finch and Sheba slipped through the door as intended and hurried through the dark hallways until they had put appreciable distance between themselves and the hunchback. Sheba let out a sigh of relief as they slowed from a jog to a walk.

Finch followed suit but made a noise closer to a laugh than a sigh. “Thaaat was a close one,” she said looking back at Sheba.

“We know. We were there,” Sheba replied and rolled her eyes. She then flashed a smirk to which Finch replied with a grin. Sheba turned away feeling her face begin to flush. She still bubbled with all sorts of emotions that had nothing to do with the eerie blade they had just eluded, so Sheba stared at her feet not remotely sure how to articulate any of it. A nervous dread started to gnaw beneath those feelings.

“Are you okay? You’re looking pale again,” Finch said. Her brow furrowed with worry.

Sheba quickly nodded her head. She didn’t wish to frighten Finch any more than she had, so she thrust her nose into the air and stood straight trying her best to feign confidence. “Finch, we have something we wish to tell you,” she said. She could feel herself already blushing again, and absently began playing with her pigtail

“Huh?” Finch said tilting her head. “What is it?”

Sheba stared down at the smaller blade and swallowed. The words refused to come. She had been prepared to spill her guts not five minutes earlier, but now her stomach was in her throat. Finch may have made her a promise, but that didn’t somehow make Sheba special. She would do the same with Pyra or Pandoria or anyone. That was simply Finch. What if she rejected her? Would she laugh and pretend it was a joke? Would it creep her out? Would she start avoiding her? That seemed to happen a lot whenever Sheba showed interest in anyone. These thoughts hurt, and Sheba didn’t want to hurt.

“We…” Sheba began as Finch blinked up at her, “think you should clean that.” Sheba pointed to her own snot still plastered to Finch’s feathers.

“Huh?” Finch said looking down at her belly. “Eww! Yuck! Where’d that come from?!” she cried wrinkling her nose and tensing her shoulders. She rummaged in her pouch and pulled out a small handkerchief to dab at the mucus.

Meanwhile, Sheba’s heart sank, and she felt ashamed of her own cowardice. She regularly asked others to join her entourage, so why should this be any different? Sheba looked down at her feet and sighed. She never feared the answer before because the stakes were never this high when she could simply ask the next person to come along.

They reached the end of the hall coming upon a set of stairs, and Sheba spun around feeling a sense of deja vu. It looked as if they had come full circle, and these were the same stairs they took from the conning tower. She approached the stairwell and looked up. In the gloom, she could just make out one of the bulkier monsters slowly climbing up ahead of them. It flexed its two four-pronged arms taking another step only every few seconds, but it was far enough ahead that Sheba wagered they could still make it up a level or two.

“Hey, I don’t-” Sheba slapped her hand over Finch’s mouth. Letting go, she held her index finger across her lips and motioned up the stairs with her head. Finch nodded peeking around as well.

Sheba gestured for Finch to follow her up hoping to eventually double back up to the bridge, but Finch pulled her hammer and slipped in front of Sheba. Finch lead the way as they crept upward, and halfway to reaching the monster, they arrived at the next level. Still unaware of them, the creature collapsed to its knees burying its face in its deformed hands. Finch looked back at Sheba silently questioning what she wanted to do. Sheba looked at the creature, and then back at where they had come before pointing upward once more. Finch nodded, and they continued.

The creature kneeled in the center of the landing luckily leaving just enough room to sneak through the door and into a long hallway without notice. They remained silent as they continued through it. Eventually, the hallway spilled out into a large, open room. Tables dotted the floor and a serving counter lined the far wall. Columns branded with waste bin icons rose from the floor around the room. It appeared to be a cafeteria or galley of some sort, and Sheba assumed a kitchen must lie beyond the serving counter.

“Hey, this is where Doc got the krabble for me,” Finch said.

Sheba frowned realizing it had been some time since she’d eaten anything. She neither had much of an appetite nor much desire to eat anything from this ship, but with their constant fighting and movement, eating some food struck her as a wise decision. Sheba sighed. “Could you show us?” she asked.

“Yeah, sure!” Finch chirped. “From back there!” She pointed at the serving counter as she marched toward it. Sheba strode ahead hoping to simply get it over with.

“Ted?” a deep voice said from around the corner, and Sheba stifled a gasp. Suddenly, Finch pulled her back. They retreated to the tables and crawled beneath one huddling close.

“Ted? Did you steal my faxes, Ted?” the unseen creature moaned. Sheba blinked. She recognized the voice. It was the same one that had startled her through the door earlier. “I told you not to take my faxes, Ted. They’re MY faxes. Get your OWN!” it ranted waving its arms in the air as it came into view from behind the serving counter.

Suddenly, the creature whirled around to face back toward the direction it had come. “Stacy?” it screamed. Sheba noticed it had four arms, yet not a single one had prongs. “Stacy, is that you?” it asked. No responses came, and the creature staggered a few steps back toward the kitchen. “That isn’t funny! Did you put Frank up to that, you gossiping cunt? You and Ted are always gossiping about me!” it howled stomping its feet. “Frank deserves better than you!” it snapped spinning back around to storm into the seating area.

“Who is Ted? Do you see anyone else or is this horrid thing shouting at people who don’t exist?” Sheba whispered to Finch while failing to simultaneously stretch her neck up and keep her head down.

“I dunno. Maybe it’s just remembering stuff,” Finch whispered back with a shrug. Sheba shuddered. Somehow that notion was even worse.

The creature shuffled toward the tables taking the seat across the aisle from their hiding spot and, thankfully, facing away. Rocking back and forth, it began to speak again. “Hey, Martha, did you hear Carol had her baby?” It fell silent as if waiting for a reply and continued to rock in place. After a few moments, it giggled. “Yeah, but it’s better if you use a crowbar,” it said punctuating its words in a way that didn’t match its deep baritone. “So, have you decided on what you’re going to order? I heard their chicken parmesan is to die for, but I just come for the drinks.” It giggled again.

“Is it just gonna sit there and talk to itself?” Finch whispered cupping her hand next to Sheba’s ear. Sheba grimaced. That looked exactly like what it was going to do.

“Ohmygosh!” the monster whined stomping its feet. “We’ve been waiting for hours! I’m, like, so hungry!” Finch and Sheba exchanged confused looks. “Ted, you better not be touching my desk, Ted!” it said pointing. “I have too many work to be waiting for hours, Ted. Ask Stacy.” It laughed then fell silent.

Sheba sighed regretting her decision to explore the kitchen. This creature was clearly deranged, and she wondered whether it was just this one or if all of them thought in such a nonsensical manner. Preparing to simply wait for the creature to leave, she settled onto her haunches and stole a glance at Finch.

With her eyebrows arched in determination, Finch nervously thumbed the shaft of her hammer. She squirmed trying to pull the giant weapon from behind her beneath the tightness of the table. She scooted back and the tall feather that stood atop her head curled forward into her face. Absently Finch swatted at it growing more irritated each time it returned. She grabbed it in her fist scowling before finally realizing what it was. With a huff, she smoothed the feather back.

Sheba smiled and wondered how she could so often overlook how cute Finch was. It wasn’t only her behavior. She may not have a bust, but she still had a little hourglass waistline, and her round face always had a natural blush. Her feathers hid so much, but she had dainty lips, and twinkles of ether could be seen in her blue eyes. Sheba wanted to drape her arm over her shoulder and pull her close. She wanted to feel Finch’s body in her arms again, and maybe plant a kiss somewhere.

“Stop looking over there!” the monster roared suddenly shooting to its feet and slamming two of its hands onto the table. Sheba jumped snapping her attention away from the smaller blade. “Do you think that waitress is cute or something?” the creature bellowed remaining hunched over the table for a moment before standing erect. “You think so? I just bought it.” It fanned one of its hands out by its waist and gave a twirl. 

“Hey, let’s just make a break for it and sneak past,” Finch said. Sheba’s brow furrowed. She didn’t know if that was a good idea.

“Break?” the monster repeated spinning around in their direction. Finch clasped her hands over her mouth as her eyes widened. “You’re breaking up with me?!” it whimpered. It sniffled rubbing its tearless face.

Sheba held her breath scooting closer to Finch. She tried not to feel too happy that Finch had done the same.

“No! You can’t break up with me!” it shouted slamming its fists into the table smashing right through the plastic. Finch barely managed to create an ether shield to protect them. The monster paused staring down at them. “Little johnny wants to play…” it sang reaching for Finch with one of its hands. Sheba snatched Finch by the wrist pulling her away, and they sprinted toward the kitchen. “Ready or not; here I come!” the creature cried giving pursuit.

Long, metal counters and various cooking appliances dotted the floor as large, steel cabinets hung on the walls. Racks of plates and trays stood next to an ether stove, and Sheba spotted around four separate cooking stations. The monsters heavy footsteps plodded behind them, and they darted through a metal door with a small window. The air on the other side was much colder, and cubbies full of assorted ingredients lined the walls. Sheba recognized the same rail system from the farm, and wondered if this is where the picked produce went. She turned around to peek through the crack in the door just in time to see the monster rounding the corner. Finch pressed against her to watch as well.

“Where’s the doggie?!” the creature said entering into the kitchen. It lumbered forward surveying the endless countertops. “There he is!” it shouted flinging open a cabinet. It reached inside and pulled out a skillet. “If you don’t like it,” it said, “why don’t you cook?!” It swung around hurling the skillet across the room where it collided with a serving tray rack and toppled it over onto a second. They both hit the ground with a loud mix of clatters and clangs as they spilled their contents. The monster laughed and clapped.

It swayed in place not continuing to pursue them. “Milk, eggs, butter, eggs, salad, ketchup, eggs,” it muttered.

Sheba sighed and hugged herself rubbing her arms. The cold air raised bumps on her skin. This had been a poor choice of hiding spot, and they couldn’t wait here. “We must fight it, or we will freeze if we stay here,” Sheba whispered to Finch.

“It’s not that cold,” Finch replied looking up at her with her sleepy expression.

“We don’t have feathers!” Sheba hissed back.

“Oh, right!” Finch said as if she couldn’t tell at a glance. “Maybe we don’t though,” she added. 

This cut short Sheba’s eye roll, and she raised an eyebrow at the smaller blade. “Explain,” Sheba commanded shivering.

“Well a minute ago, it acted like it heard me, but like it didn’t, too, you know?” Finch said. “Maybe it won’t notice us if we tell it stuff.”

Sheba furrowed her brow. “There is no way such a thing would work,” she said.

“It acted like we weren’t there until it actually saw us,” Finch replied. “Plus, it can’t hurt to try.”

Sheba bit her lip. Finch was right. At worst, it meant they would have to fight it anyway. “What do we say?” she asked.

“I dunno,” Finch said. “Try to make it look in the cabinet again.”

Sheba sighed then glanced back at the creature. It hadn’t moved and was still muttering something about eggs. She licked her lips then cupped her mouth with her hands. “Where’s the doggie?” Sheba called out. The monster stretched its neck looking around the kitchen with confusion. “Where’s the…?” it repeated. It took a step toward them. Sheba spotted Finch gripping her hammer. The monster then flung open another cabinet. “There he is!” it cried.

Sheba and Finch exchanged looks barely containing their excitement. “Where’s the doggie?” Sheba called out again. The monster turned around searching for another cabinet.

“There he is!” it shouted flinging open an oven.

“Okay, we have come up with a plan,” Sheba said grinning. “First, we will make it turn around; then, we will hide there,” she said pointing at a small gap against the wall between an ether stove and large soup boiler. “We will draw it back this way then make it open this door. After which, we will lock it right here!” Sheba pointed down.

“One question. How ya’ gonna make it look over there?” Finch asked placing her index finger on her lips and tilting her head.

“Like this.” Sheba smirked and approached one of the cubbies. Examining their contents, she grabbed two tarnish apples and held one up. Finch blinked, and Sheba returned to the door. Kneeling, she rolled it along the floor into the kitchen.

The apple continued past the monster feet drawing its notice. “You can still wash it,” it said as it chased after.

“Go!” Sheba whispered pushing Finch out the door. They dove into the arranged hiding place.

“What now?’ Finch asked.

Sheba peeked around, but the creature faced away. “We had planned to throw this one, but it isn’t looking,” Sheba replied holding up the second apple.

“Okay, let me try something, then,” Finch said then stuck her fingers in her mouth and whistled. Due to the sheer volume, Sheba plugged her ears. When she had finished, Sheba scowled at the smaller blade. She had no time to rebuke Finch as the monster cried out.

“Oh Martha! The tea!” it said and hurried back in their direction. The monster stopped in place in front of the refrigerator.

“Where’s the doggie!” Sheba called out.

“Where’s the doggie…” it repeated. It reached out for the door then flung it open. “There he is!” it shouted.

Finch shot up. Using a gust of wind, she leapt into the air and drop-kicked the monster in the back flinging it into the refrigerator. Sheba followed slamming the door as Finch and the creature picked themselves up from the ground. The monster lunged at the door, and Sheba snatched a ladle from the wall and slid it between the door’s handles. “Let me in, Martha!” it roared shoving and banging against the door. “It’s Sunday! It’s Sunday!”

Finch brushed herself off then looked at Sheba. She spun her index finger in a circle near her temple and stuck her tongue out.

“Phew, talk about a close encounter,” Finch said bracing herself on the wall with her hand. She glanced up furrowing her brow then added, “Hey? Why’s the wall all sticky?” Glowing eyes opened, and the wall snorted ruffling the feathers on Finch’s head with its steamy breath. “Zoinks! ” Finch said pulling her palm away from the massive tooth. “Uhh… breath mint?” she asked pulling the candy from only the Architect knew where as she backed away. The behemoth stood and bellowed flinging spit everywhere and blowing it from Finch’s hand.

Finch and Sheba bolted. The giant pushed through stoves and toppled shelves of pots chasing them back into the galley seating. The behemoth smashed through the serving counter ripping tables from the ground as it barreled behind them. They darted into one of the entrances and the monster crashed into the frame. Relentless, it tucked itself in and began squeezing through the doorway. 

The behemoth opened its mouth and the fingers on its tongue gripped and released. Sheba snatched Finch’s hand ready summon her tub to ferry them to the end of the hall but froze at the lantern light peeking around the corner. She scanned the walls looking for some form of escape then whirled back around to face the behemoth plugging the entire exit. There was nowhere to run. They were trapped. Finch pulled her hammer from her back glancing warily at Sheba.

Hyde rounded the corner stopping at the end of the hallway as the behemoth finished worming through the hallway entrance and into the wider corridor. Unable to actually walk, the monster instead crawled toward them pulling itself with its gnarled fingers. Hyde, however, lunged at top speed. Finch stepped in front of Sheba raising her shield at the hunchback blitzing down the corridor at them. Sticking her foot back, she braced herself for his attack, but Hyde stepped around the shield.

Sheba spun around expecting to be hit. “Run…” Hyde murmured looking back. He held his lantern aloft, and a white laser shot from the glass. Sheba’s jaw dropped. While she hadn’t known exactly what to expect, assistance had been the furthest thing from her mind. The behemoth moaned in protest as the laser seared black lines into its flesh as it passed over. It swatted at the laser roaring in frustration before deciding to charge at them instead.

Placing the lantern on the ground, Hyde held his palms forward. White ether congealed into a gated fence. Pearl bars with golden trim spanned the width of the passage sealing the monster on the other side. The behemoth slammed into it. “Flee…” Hyde pressed giving them another brief glance. His lenses glowed with ether. Recoiling, the monster slammed its foreleg into the gate. “It won’t... hold… forever…” Hyde urged.

“Come on!” Finch shouted grabbing her hand. She pulled Sheba down the hallway leaving Hyde to attend his monster alone.

“Right then left…!” Hyde shouted back.

Following his instructions, Finch pulled Sheba right as they reached the end of the corridor. After taking the first left, an unseen door slammed shut behind them. Sheba whirled around to stare at the heavy sheet of metal. There would be no going back through it.

“I guess big teeth need big braces, huh?” Finch said pointing at the reinforcements on the door. Sheba rolled her eyes.

They trailed through the corridor. Strangely, a number of candles had been set up in the rooms. Sheba felt a faint familiarity as she glanced into them, but one particular room caused them to stop.

Another tank stood alone at the center, but instead of a monster, inside floated a man. His head hung low, and his long, unbound, jade hair drifted in the fluid masking his eyes and framing the wrinkles around his mouth. Somehow, he seemed familiar, so Sheba strode across the floor toward the tank to get a better look. A myriad of odd machines and tools hummed and glowed in the dim light, but the wires from each one seemed to all center back on the tank. Sheba placed her hands on the glass and bent over to look up at the man’s face. She gasped. It was the same man from the video, but now some bizarre, fibrous, matted, blue gunk spilled from his mouth and between his eyelids. Sheba furrowed her brow then circled around finding more of the plant-like filaments erupting through the skin along his spine.

“I see you’ve…” Sheba jumped at the sound of Hyde’s voice, “...found my driver…”

Hyde stood at the door clutching his side as a pale light slipped through the gaps between his fingers. He drifted across the room toward them. Hesitantly, Finch stepped in front of Sheba raising her shield to protect them both.

Hyde paused. “You’re… afraid of me… aren’t you...?” When neither answered, Hyde looked at the floor. “I see…” he murmured.

“Your driver?” Sheba asked squinting.

Hyde glided toward the tank ignoring them as they backed away. “This is Doctor Bartholomew Sikh… head medical engineer of... the Atelier of Judicium… and the lead designer… of  _ The Inquisition _ ...”

“Judicium? Isn’t that a really old country?” Finch asked.

“Yes… it is...” Hyde murmured not looking away.

“So how is it that this man can come from such a place? All that is left of Judicium now is ruins. We have seen it ourself, in fact,” Sheba added crossing her arms and peeking around the shield.

“Because… everything here is… just as old…” Hyde replied with a humorless chuckle. “ _ The Inquisition _ … has been under quarantine… for 2063 years…”

“T-two thousand?!” Sheba shouted widening her eyes. “Absurd! You expect us to believe such fraudulent claims?!”

Hyde hooked his lantern on the console and placed his spindly hand on the glass. “We are... the last remaining... members of the crew… This stasis tank… is all that keeps us… alive...”

Sheba blinked turning to the tank. If what he had said was true, all they would have to do was damage it, and Hyde would no longer be a problem. Sheba didn’t think she could simply murder someone in cold blood, however.

“What happened to him?” Finch asked prompting Hyde to face them. Finch steadied her hammer, but Hyde groaned and buckled bringing his second hand to his torso. Hesitantly, Finch lowered her shield. “Doc, what’s wrong with your side?” she asked.

“My ribs… are broken…” Hyde replied. “That guldo… Very lethal…”

“So, it’s still out there?” Finch said glancing at the door.

“Yes... I will mend… but that takes… time…” Hyde replied returning to his usual posture while still clutching his side. “I cannot… fight… it directly… so you must… trust me… and not run… off again...”

“Trust you?” Sheba pointed her finger as the hunchback. “You told us we were your prisoners. Why should we?” 

Hyde shook his head. “I never said... such…” he said, “but this ship is… under quarantine… One cannot… simply leave… Myself included...”

Sheba paused and her brow knitted with concern as she processed Hyde’s reply. Then she narrowed her eyes. “From what? And why not simply tell us that at the beginning?” she asked. “Why frighten us with evasion and force?”

“Forgive me… I was… misguided…” Hyde murmured bowing his head to apparently stare at the floor. “I am… trying… to help… but there are… many things demanding my… attention...” He stole a glance back at the tank then looked at Sheba. “For now… please just… trust me…”

Sheba continued to squint at the hunchback. She did not know what to think of the matter. Hyde may have injured himself abetting their escape, but why should they believe anything he said? How could they even know he wasn’t faking his injury? He had still attacked them, after all.

Hyde silently stared into the darkness at the corner of the room seemingly waiting for Sheba to come to a decision. “Please...” the hunchback urged quietly. “Fear not…”

Finch’s eyes darted between Sheba and Hyde before her brow furrowed in determination. “I trust ya’, Doc,” she said dropping the shield and marching over toward him.

“F-Finch!” Sheba shouted feeling betrayed. She pointed at Hyde. “He attacked us, and he locked us up! Twice!”

Finch paused then turned back. “Yeah, but I just got this feelin’ ya’ know? Like he’s a good guy,” she said placing her hands behind her head.

Sheba’s gaze shifted up and down between Finch and the much taller hunchback. This wasn’t a good idea. Finch was too trusting and easy to manipulate. What sort of person skulks about in the dark? Hyde was a monster who made monsters. He’d lied and tried to hurt them. Sheba began to shake her head.

“I know I make people mad when I can’t remember, and I forget words so I can’t always explain stuff right, but I don’t do it on purpose.” Finch chattered. Sheba continued to shake her head, and Finch frowned. “If you can’t trust Doc, can’t you trust me?” she asked. “I know that’s not very good, but I just don’t remember how to say what I’m thinking.” The mix of frustration and sadness that flashed across Finch’s face was new to Sheba, but the ephemeral expression was immediately replaced by a small smile.

Finch retraced her few steps to take Sheba’s hands. “Sheba,” she said looking into her eyes. Sheba gasped. For a moment, she wasn’t certain she had heard Finch say her name- her real name. It made her warm and breathless despite how silly and foolish that was. Sheba refused to believe that hearing her name come out of this absurd little blade’s mouth would make her heart melt, but it had. Finch’s resolute expression forced a blush to Sheba’s cheeks, but Finch wasn’t finished yet. “I won’t let anything happen to you,” she said staring up into Sheba’s eyes. All Sheba could do was stare back and blush as her mind vacated. She hadn’t been prepared for this sort of appeal.

Finch’s features softened and she gave a coy smile. “You didn’t forget that I promised, right?” she asked wagging her finger.

Sheba scowled and tightly puckered her lips in feigned annoyance despite the warm tingling in her core. Did this cheeky churl think she was the one ever at risk for that? “Of course not!” she replied happy that Finch still remembered even if it hadn’t been that long ago. She couldn’t maintain the expression, so she turned away trying her best to hide the smile sneaking its way onto her lips.

“So you’ll trust Doc?” Finch asked leaning in close.

“Yes! Yes! Okay!” Sheba said only being further flustered by the proximity. “We will trust him.”

Finch grinned whirling around to give Hyde a thumbs up. Hyde seemed to fidget as he approached then leaned over the downy dame. “Thank… you…” he muttered almost inaudibly. 

“Don’t mention it,” Finch said rubbing her index finger under her nose. “I’m preeeettty good at this kinda stuff. Preeetty preeetty pretty good.” Sheba looked up wondering what she meant by that, and met Finch’s gaze as she looked back at her. “Hey, look! Sheeva’s blushing!” Finch sang then suddenly pounced.

Eyes wide, Sheba tried to jump away. “No! Unhand m- us!” she yelped before Finch’s arms had even made their way around her waist. Finch giggled as Sheba failed to pry her off. Hyde, meanwhile, tilted his head at the spectacle. 

“Wait!” Sheba shouted breaking free. “We have conditions!” she announced thrusting both her finger and her nose into the air. Finch toppled backwards onto her bottom blinking up at her.

Hyde remained silent, and Sheba, having expected some sort of response, blinked back awkwardly.

Seeming to notice, Hyde tilted his head in the other direction. “So will you… please elaborate...?” he asked.

Sheba lowered her index finger and crossed her arms. “First, you must share with us what you know. We are tired of being in the dark both figuratively and literally,” she replied then waved at dim the room.

“I will… confess everything…” Hyde replied with a nod. “Any… more…?”

Sheba blinked. She wasn’t certain she had anything else. She really only wanted information. Finch spread her arms out. “Yeah, don’t scare Sheila anymore!” she answered for Sheba.

Hyde nodded. “No scaring… Sheila…”

Sheba fumed. Not only was that not her name, but simply agreeing to trust him didn’t suddenly make them all friends. “We wish to know more about this quarantine,” she nearly shouted. Even if she had no more conditions, she may as well exercise her right to questions.

Hyde stared at the ground. “That answer… takes time...” he said. Leaning away from his injured ribs, he carefully turned to snatch up his lantern. “Follow…” he said drifting toward the far door.

Sheba frowned. She didn’t want to follow him anywhere, but Finch took her hand, so Sheba allowed herself to be tugged along despite her reluctance.

“I… feared the guldos would… kill you…” Hyde murmured from ahead. “You’re surprisingly… resourceful…” He turned into a small room lined with cabinets and a sink. “Sit...” he said motioning toward the examination bench. Sheba hung by the door, but Finch happily hopped onto the table. 

“This ship… was the first of its kind… the first that could… pierce the cloud sea wall… and enter the land they called... Morytha…” Hyde placed his lantern on the table turning its brightness up. “But the land of our creator… It was not Elysium…” He opened one of the cabinets shuffling through for something. “It was a world ravaged by... the souls of the damned… creatures twisted and tortured... beyond recognition… beings whose own existence… causes their despair…” He said pulling out a small box. “These were the monsters you saw… We called them… guldos...”

“Guldos?” Sheba repeated crossing her arms. She had noticed him using the term before. “And what of the creatures in the tanks below?” she asked.

Hyde hesitated. “You… saw those…?” he asked and Sheba nodded. “The crew... or what’s left at least… They became infected by… a pestilence…” he continued. The way his hands clutched the box to his chest reminding Sheba of a bird of prey. He approached Finch who sat kicking her feet atop the bench. “Are you in… any pain…?” he asked.

“Pretty much everywhere,” Finch replied. Hyde tilted his head presumably unsure how to respond to the vague answer. “But mostly my back and butt,” Finch added rubbing above her tail.

“I see… Then please… lie on your… stomach…” Hyde said, and Finch rolled over. Hyde stretched his spindly fingers hovering them just above contact. A soft light radiated from his palms as he slowly moved them. “You have… multiple contusions… across your back… and a… herniated disc…”

“What’s that mean?” Finch asked.

“Nothing… serious... Lie… still...“ Hyde murmured working the light slowly down her spine. “Did you notice… the fungus…?” he asked. “On Bart…”

It took Sheba a second to realize Hyde was speaking to her and another to pull her thoughts from what he was doing. She recalled the strange lichen-like growths along Hyde’s driver. “That blue… stuff?” she asked.

“Yes…” Hyde replied. “It is the reason for… the quarantine... and the source... of the guldos…”

“Wait,” Sheba said eyes widening. “Are you telling us that is what causes these monsters?” She stole a quick glance at Finch who seemed to be enjoying her light bath if her goofy grin was any indication. Sheba snorted.

“In part…” Hyde murmured. “The crystals… contain… antibiotics…”

“The ones on the monsters?” Finch asked opening her eyes. “Aren’t they core crystals?”

Hyde shook his head. “Similar… but different… The pestilence eats away at… the brain… and spinal cord… the stem, specifically… Eventually… it replaces them… Victims become… hostile… animalistic… usually violent… but don’t show many… visible symptoms… None at first… It is a silent… affection...”

Sheba shuddered as she recalled the fungus growing from Sikh’s mouth and eyes. “If it’s internal, then why could we see it?” she asked.

“In the advanced stages… the pestilence spreads… to the exterior…” Hyde answered then motioning for Finch to get down. “I’m… finished…” he said.

Finch complied hopping off. “Hey, I feel good as new!” she chirped touching her toes.

Hyde suddenly spun to face Sheba causing her to jump and take a step back into the hallway. “Your… turn…” he said.

Sheba lingered by the door, but Finch gave her a thumbs up urging her to move. Sheba swallowed and crossed the small room toward Hyde. She pushed herself onto the bench. The plush material felt cold beneath her bare legs, and her heart pounded in her ears. Hyde loomed over her with his flickering lenses.

“You have bruising… around your… throat…” Hyde said reaching toward it with his hand. Sheba recoiled covering it with her own hands in a mix of intimidation and self consciousness. Hyde paused. “Allow me… to fix it…” he said softly. Sheba glanced at Finch for assurance, but she was busy listening to the wall with a stethoscope she had found somewhere. Sheba returned her gaze to Hyde to find him waiting patiently with his palms clasped together. Sheba swallowed again then slowly removed her hands.

The light returned to Hyde’s hands as they drew close to her neck. Sheba closed her eyes still half-expecting him to try to strangle her. It felt like sunshine when Hyde’s warm ether touched her skin, and it made her miss the surface. A few short moments later, one of Hyde’s hands drifted across her collar bone to hover above her shoulder. “Your dislocation… has almost… healed…” he said. “I will... reduce inflammation… That should help with… any lingering... pain…”

Sheba could feel the warmth pushing the ache away. Pain she hadn’t even realized she was feeling was simply smoothed over. Sheba had been healed before, but from her experience, most blades would simply dump as much ether as they could onto a wound. This could generate all manner of odd sensations or even occasionally produce even more pain, but Hyde’s usage was surgical. The gentle light only touched the parts of her that hurt. It was almost as enjoyable as settling into a warm tub, so Finch’s idiotic expression now made a little sense to her. Sheba made the effort to school her own features, however.

“For some reason…” Hyde began, “these damned of… Morytha are attracted... to the pestilence… They seek out… infection and embed... their crystals into those they… discover...“

Hyde pulled his hand away from her shoulder giving Sheba a direct glimpse at his palm. The light flared her headache, and Sheba recoiled. Hyde paused and tilted his head. “Look… here…” he said pointing at his forehead. When Sheba complied, the faint light from his lenses suddenly burst in intensity. It felt like a physical blow to the head, and Sheba pulled away shutting her eyes with a snarl.

“My… apologies…” Hyde said. “Please… watch this...’ he said holding his index finger up and slowly moving his hand horizontally. Still mostly stunned, Sheba obeyed once more, but Hyde held her chin to force her to follow with only her eyes. Her headache intensified, and Sheba winced pulling away. Hyde bowed his head. “You have a.... mild concussion…” he said.

“A concussion?” Sheba asked with a bit more concern slipping into her tone than she liked. “Isn’t that dangerous?” She had heard the term but wasn’t certain what it was. 

“Sometimes… but blades have little… brain tissue… I can… heal you…” Hyde placed his thumbs just above her brow and wrapped his fingers around Sheba’s crown. Sheba almost pushed him back, but the soft light returned and she could immediately feel it melting the pain away.

Hyde continued his explanation. “After its host is… transfused with the crystals… the pestilence is then… killed by the antibiotics… The crystals attempt to… recreate the damaged tissue… but instead reconstruct… the infected tissue… maintaining the symptoms… without infection…”

“So tell us why they look like they do?” Sheba asked when her headache had dulled to a faint ache. “If we understand you, shouldn’t they look the same?”

“The artificial dna… synthesized by the crystals… facilitates further mutation… This accounts for the… wide physiological differences… between guldos…” Hyde pulled his hands away. “Anywhere... else…?” he asked. Sheba shook her head feeling much better than she had since waking up on the ship.

“Good…” Hyde said and turned to the box. “I didn’t… need this…” he muttered returning it to the cupboard. He clasped the cabinet door and paused before reaching in again. “Since... you’ve been a… good girl…” he said flipping open a different box. “I have… this…” Hyde brandished a purple lollipop. Sheba blinked in confusion, and her jaw hung limp before her face congealing into a scowl. She turned her gaze to the floor hiding her embarrassment. The kind gesture had caught her off guard. Did he think they were children?

“Hey, Doc! Where’s mine?!” Finch whined. Sheba sighed resisting the urge to slap her forehead and rephrased her thought. Did he think Sheba was a child?

“I… have another…” Hyde murmured handing a red one to the much smaller blade who happily shoved it into her mouth. Hyde placed both hands back on his ribs and the pale light returned forcing Sheba to wonder if he had been in pain the entire time he had instead been healing them.

Despite her chagrin, Sheba peeled the wrapper from the presumably ancient candy. Placing the lollipop in her mouth, she watched as Hyde gathered things from around the room. Finch took a seat next to her with the stethoscope still hanging from her neck. “Please… remain here…” Hyde said marching toward the door. Before passing through, he paused and bowed his head; then, after a few seconds, he returned. “I am… going to attend… my own injuries…” he said. Sheba blinked. “The medical bay is… safe…” Hyde continued motioning at the hallway. “I have been… using flood doors to… prevent access… Please do not… wander beyond them...” Sheba nodded, and Hyde lingered as if unsure if he should say more, but then without further comment, drifted from the room.

Sheba rattled the hard candy against her teeth unsure of what to think of the things Hyde had told them. If she were honest, she found a lot of what he said difficult to follow, but his words had completely flipped the circumstances. It made her stomach boil, but it sounded less that they couldn’t leave so much as shouldn’t leave. Sheba didn’t think she wanted to see everyone they know turn into shambling, psychotic monsters. Frowning, she pulled her knees to her chest and nearly choked on the confection in her mouth when Finch laid her head on her shoulder.

“You know, Shirly? I’m kinda pooped,” Finch said yawning.

Sheba felt fatigued herself. They had been fighting and running for some time, and Finch had done most of the former. “I don’t know if we can go back anymore,” Sheba said quietly.

“We’ll find some way,” Finch replied closing her eyes.

“We’re not certain we should,” Sheba said. She pulled the stick out of the candy and flung it at a small waste bin across the small room.

“Don’t worry so much,” Finch said.

“How can we not worry,” Sheba replied softly.

“Because I’m here,” Finch said clearly half asleep. “I promised…”

Sheba smiled. She didn’t know what Finch could possibly do, but the tingling in Sheba chest returned none-the-less. Hesitantly, she rested her own head on Finch’s. Sheba’s heart pounded in her chest, but when Finch didn’t object, her insides exploded like a firework show. Sheba wondered if Finch understood these gestures, but knew she would never know if she remained silent. Still as long as they were together, Sheba still had time. For now, she could simply enjoy what she did have, so she closed her own eyes.


	6. Steps to Confession

Sheba woke up to a prickling in one of her legs and soft snoring in her ear. After readjusting herself in order to quell the tingling, she burrowed deeper into the blanket only to pause in confusion. She cracked open an eye and stroked the fabric with her fingertips. That certainly hadn't been there before. Hyde must have draped it over them while they slept. Finch held the edge between her talons, and the gentle rise and fall of her downy chest tickled Sheba's arm. Her proximity alone caused Sheba to redden. Carefully, Sheba freed her shoulder which allowed Finch to sink into her bosom. Her heart thundered in her chest as she slipped her arms around the warm bundle of fluffy feathers. Sheba hoped it wouldn’t wake the smaller blade. She had no idea what she’d say then, but for now, she rested her head atop Finch’s and grinned to herself.

Just after she drifted back to sleep, the prickling sensation in her leg returned, but no matter how she moved it, it refused to desist. Sheba poked out her lower lip. She was quite comfortable where she was. Why must her own leg betray her? Pouting, she wormed her way from under the downy dame and then eased the smaller blade down onto the examination bench. She rolled her onto her back, but Finch scratched her chest, pulled the blanket up, and curled right back onto her side.

“Fine, but don't complain to us if your neck hurts later,” Sheba muttered. She slid off the bench, and the contact sent sparks up to her thigh. She hobbled toward the door using the wall for support and winced with every step.

She peeked into the hallway and spotted light filtering out an open door a few paces down. Holding onto a pipe to maintain balance, she wandered toward it. Thankfully, the paresthesia faded as she drew closer.

Inside the room, she found Hyde kneeling next to some large apparatus. He huddled over where it joined the floor with tools scattered around him. Stepping in quietly, she opened her mouth to announce her presence but failed to find the words. The hunchbacked blade still made her a little nervous. Rather than search for them, she chose to stand and wait for him to notice her.

“I met her… once…” Hyde said without even looking up.

Sheba jumped. Surprised by the remark and not quite understanding it, she asked “Met who?”

“The… Epistle… In a way, she is… the reason this ship was… built…” Hyde replied retrieving a pair of pliers from a small toolbox. “The Atelier wished… to explore the holy… lands…”

“We have never heard of this Epistle,” Sheba replied as she treaded slowly to crouch beside him. She shifted her legs to one side beneath her and settled onto her bottom.

“Has so much… changed…?” Hyde asked returning the pliers. “She was the… scion of the Architect… a being of true… divinity… not an imitation like… you or I…”

Sheba raised an eyebrow. She didn’t quite follow what Hyde said, but she thought the word “scion” meant “baby” or “child.” “Do you mean Pyra?,” she asked. “Or, we suppose, Mythra rather…?”

Hyde shook his head. “I do not… recognize those names…” He then laughed quietly. “Though time has an odd… way of mutating things beyond recognition… Perhaps we do still speak of… the same person…”

Sheba didn’t reply, but she wasn’t certain how to respond even if she wanted.

“Regardless…” Hyde continued. “I apologize again for my… coarse behavior… I have lost my… way with others…”

Sheba frowned and looked down with a pang of guilt. Unsettling and uncanny as he was, she had certainly misjudged the hunchback in return. He neither moved nor spoke quite right, but that now seemed tempered. Curiously, it reminded her of Wulfric, and this comparison only served to make her feel worse. “We are… sorry, as well,” Sheba said staring at her lap.

For the first time, Hyde stopped working and looked back at her. “For… what…?”

“We misread your intentions and judged you on your appearance,” Sheba replied. “We see now that you are not the person we thought you were.”

Hyde laughed. “My younger patients occasionally… found me frightening…” he replied. “That is why I… keep candy…” Hyde gathered his tool into the box then circled to the far side of the machine. Sheba, meanwhile, blushed furiously. She felt like an idiot. At least, she didn’t have to let him know that the candy had worked on her, too.

“I understand why you may… have been wary, my child… but your companion… surprised me… I thought we had become… friends…” Hyde said. He shook his head then reached for his lantern and pulled it closer.

“Finch has memory problems,” Sheba replied with a shrug. “She forgets things.”

Hyde peeked around at her. He tilted his head. “Chronic memory loss…?” Sheba nodded. “How severe…?”

“She can’t remember anyone’s name, and she will often forget what she is doing while in the middle of a task,” Sheba replied while idly unknotting a tangle she noticed forming in her hair.

“Odd…” Hyde tapped the point of his mask’s beak. “I have never heard of… such a thing…”

Sheba looked up. “No? We understand it is quite common among the elderly.”

“Yes…” Hyde said, “but blades do not… age… Blades also store memories in.. their core crystals… which work much differently compared to… organic brains… Physiological changes cause… memory loss in… organic tissue… but with similar damage… a core crystal ceases… total function resulting in… death…”

Sheba frowned and furrowed her brow. “Are you telling us that Finch should be dead?”

Hyde shook his head. “I do not… know, but even memories from… prior drivers are… detectable when analyzing… core crystals… Diagnosis would require… adequate study…”

“Do you think it could be cured?” Sheba asked genuinely interested.

“Without understanding the… cause, that is… difficult to determine…” Hyde replied. After depositing a screwdriver back into the toolbox, Hyde stood up and clutched the machine in his arms. Sheba returned to her feet as he lifted the entire thing from the floor and carried it to a small trolley Sheba hadn't noticed sitting in the corner.

"We wish to know what it is that you are doing," Sheba said. 

Hyde twisted his head back as he picked up the toolbox. He placed it on the lower shelf of the trolley then looked down at the machine. "Forgive me, but… no..."

"No?” Sheba repeated growing indignant. "You promised that you would be honest with us!"

"I promised… candor, but not … immediacy..." Hyde replied turning to her. "There are steps to… such a confession…”

“We do not understand! Why won’t you simply tell us?!” Sheba demanded crossing her arms and thrusting her nose higher. She faltered as Hyde suddenly overshadow her with his imposing frame.

He slowly lowered his mask to her eye level. “Because I do not…” he began. Sheba gulped as the false beak hovered far too close to her face. “peddle falsehoods…” he finished. “Once I know that I... cannot lie to you... only then will I… share…” Hyde said. He placed his hand on her shoulder. “I promise…" he added gently.

Unsure of what to think or even feel, Sheba merely held her breath and stared at Hyde’s eerie mask. She didn't understand why Hyde insisted on being so secretive but was secrecy enough to doubt him? He wasn’t some mad scientist creating monsters like she had thought. He was merely a doctor trying to help people, and he seemed to at least be making an effort to be less freakish. The guilt swirling inside her became too much, and Sheba broke away. She supposed she could afford him a certain degree of genuine trust. “Fine,” was all she managed to croak out. Hyde chuckled softly. He turned and wheeled the cart through the door. Sheba followed quietly.

"Hey! There you guys are! Are you trying to leave me behind?!" Finch shouted as she darted into view.

Sheba rolled her eyes then smirked at what she thought to be a clever jab. “No, we thought you'd be along in  _ short _ measure," she said.

"Hey, what's that?" Finch asked catching sight of the machine and completely missing Sheba's tease. Sheba scoffed.

"An ether... converter..." Hyde murmured. Sheba blinked. Surprisingly, she recognized the name even if she hadn't recognized the part. Of course, it was only unfair to expect her to. She didn't know they could be that big, after all.

"What's it do?" Finch asked traipsing behind as Hyde drifted down the hallway with the trolley. Not wanting to be left alone, Sheba trailed alongside her behind the hunchback.

"It refines... titan’s blood into... usable ether..." Hyde answered.

"Honestly, even we knew that," Sheba said and thrust her nose into the air with a smirk. "They have them in stoves and..." Sheba couldn't actually recall anything else. She had simply overhead a conversation about repairing a stove once. "such..." she finished after a brief pause.

"Hehe, shucks, I guess I forgot," Finch said scratching the back of her head and grinning. That wasn't the type of response Sheba had wanted, but she caught Hyde glance back at Finch. She wagered that he must be taking an interest in Finch's memory.

Hyde halted at a set of metal doors identical to the pair that had sealed them inside. Sheba concluded that these must be the aforementioned flood doors. Hyde withdrew a small, cardlike device from somewhere under his shroud, and a holographic model of  _ The Inquisition _ materialized above it. Hyde touched the diagram, and the map zoomed into their location on the vessel.

"Ooh! What's that?" Finch asked immediately intrigued.

"A display… pass…" Hyde murmured. He swiped the hologram, and the motors in the wall ahead of them groaned to life.

"It controls the ship...?" Sheba said more than asked.

"In part…" Hyde replied offhandedly as he pocketed the device once more.

The doors separated revealing a guldo squatting in the corridor. It shot to its feet while screaming at the top of its lungs then lunged toward them. Finch pulled her hammer from her back, but before she could do a thing, Hyde slammed his lantern against the creature’s head. Knocked clean off its feet, the guldo bounced off the wall. Hyde lifted his lantern, and a laser fired at the monster. The guldo howled as the beam incinerated the crystals on its body. It flung itself against the wall apparently trying to douse the flames until it fell to the ground in a burning heap.

Sheba plugged her nose at the stench while Finch glanced at her apprehensively. Finch returned her gaze to Hyde then chuckled awkwardly. “Wow. You nip it in the bud, huh, Doc?” she said lowering her hammer.

“What use is there... in prolonging their suffering…?” Hyde murmured stepping back to continue pushing the trolley.

Finch scratched the back of her head. “I guess if you put it like that...“ She glanced down at the corpse as she passed. “I kinda feel bad for it, though,” Finch added quietly. Sheba frowned. Despite knowing what they had been, she would shed no tears for the creature. It hadn’t hesitated to attack them, so why should she feel bad for it now? Thrusting her nose into the air, she hurried along behind Hyde and Finch.

Sheba shrieked when the charred remains of the guldo suddenly flopped over and grabbed her ankle. In a whirl of dark fabric, Hyde seized the creature in his bare hands and lifted it into the air. A crystal still sparkled beneath one of the monster’s arms. Silently, Hyde plunged his spindly fingers into the guldo’s flesh then tore the crystal away. The guldo fell limp once more.

“Tenacious… They sense the pestilence… in Bartholomew…” Hyde said bowing his head as he dropped the corpse to the ground. He brandished the display pass and shut the flood doors once more. “I have no further... specimens, so forgive my brevity… on the matter...” he added as he returned to the cart.

While Hyde reapproached with Sheba in tow, Finch stared past them at the corpse. “Doc, how do you know that wasn’t one of your friends?” she asked.

Hyde stopped walking next to her. “I don’t…” he replied without even facing her. Instead, he seemed to choose to merely stare at the ground.

“Oh…” Finch said without looking up either.

An awkward silence hung over the blades. Sheba bit her lower lip wondering if she should say something, but after a moment, Hyde continued. "It isn’t very… likely… Very few of the crew have… escaped… Most of the guldos you see… roaming about... entered from below when... I retrieved you both from Morytha… They somehow breached the… hangar door…”

“And they’re trying to reach your driver?” Sheba asked in order to ensure she was following along.

“Yes...” Hyde replied. He brandished the same guldo crystal from before. “These crystals influence… their behavior… Bartholomew hypothesized that… they were intended... as a cure… The process, however… appears incomplete… We hoped to... modify them and realize... the intended function…” he said.

“A cure…?’ Sheba repeated. “If you have a cure, why do you need the crystals?”

“The antibiotics do… not function when… extracted from the crystals…” Hyde replied. He deposited the crystal somewhere under his shroud and began pushing the trolley once more. Sheba and Finch followed. “Even injecting them into… other guldo crystals or… my own core crystal failed to facilitate function… I have yet to… uncover why…”

"Wait, why’d you put them in yourself?” Finch asked. Her eyes suddenly grew wide. “Does that mean we can get sick, too?" She lifted her arms and tensed her shoulders before frantically looking herself over.

“In a sense, that... conclusion may already... be foregone...” Hyde murmured. "Guldos may be post... contagion, but… there exist other transmission… candidates...”

Sheba’s head was starting to spin from all the information Hyde kept dropping on them. It frustrated her, and Sheba felt as though she still didn’t really understand why they couldn’t go home. “If guldos aren’t contagious then what is!” she demanded. “If they’re not going to make anyone sick, why do you even need a quarantine?!”

“Because something else will...” Hyde replied. He lowered his head then quietly added “We never could… determine how it... spread among the crew…”

Sheba blinked. “You don’t know how it spreads?” she asked.

“Only very little…” Hyde replied. “In the infected, blood-borne... transmission was confirmed...” he said, “but we lacked key… information required to… reach comprehensive conclusions...” Hyde rounded a corner as he continued to speak. “Electrical charges consistent… with neurological activity trigger… germination while the spores… die within twenty-four hours of exposure to open-air... With only guldos to... infect, this pestilence should have… quickly faded away… so why has… it persisted…? Until I can… answer that, this ship must… remain quarantined...”

Sheba looked down at her feet. These were all things that she had so little understanding of. Monsters were one thing, but diseases and infections were not things that could be bludgeoned back with brute force. “So what do you think happened?” she asked.

Hyde gave her a brief glance. “I have but… one theory…” he said. “The survey crew may… have encountered an incompatible... host carrying dormant spores…”

“Incompatible how?” Sheba pressed.

“Blades for… example…” Hyde replied. “I have… detected spores within my… own blood… but have never demonstrated… signs of infection…" he continued. "While blades... possess clear immunity… they may still transfer the disease… In other words, contact... with me alone may… have already infected... you both...”

Sheba looked down at herself. She felt fine. "So if we return to the surface, we risk infecting our drivers and our friends?” she asked. Hyde nodded.

“But you did get the cure to work, right?” Finch asked striding up next to Hyde. “You can fix people with the new crystals?”

“In that, we… also failed…” Hyde bowed his head. “Because of these failures, I... was charged with maintaining... this quarantine and continuing... study…”

"And you've been here alone since then?" Sheba asked quietly as she trailed behind.

“I was… the only blade… aboard…” Hyde said. Sheba frowned. Until then, she hadn’t quite considered the weight of Hyde's burden. She certainly wouldn't have been able to stand being the only one on this ship for 2,000 years. The few hours they had spent here already had been more than enough, so merely imagining it made her feel incredibly lonely.

"So, is there, like, maybe a way to clean us out?" Finch asked. Sheba's eyes lit up. She hadn't considered that.

“Long ago, I… too, had that idea…" Hyde remarked but said nothing more. He stopped and lifted the entire trolley before turning down into a spiral staircase.

Sheba paused at the stair entrance. It was like a dam had burst in her heart. She could read between the lines, and Hyde's lack of reply could only mean that it hadn’t panned out either. They truly couldn't leave. A sad and numb feeling overtook her. She'd never have her entourage. She'd never see her driver and friends again. She'd never even get another decent cup of tea! She could feel her eyes watering for what felt like the hundredth time.

Finch's arm brushed against Sheba's startling her and drawing her back up from her despair. "Oops, sorry. Kind of a tight squeeze," she chirped.

Sheba scowled. "It wouldn't be if you were not trying to walk right next to us," she replied feigning annoyance despite her fluttering heart.

"But you told me not to follow behind you because you don't like people looking at your tail," Finch said. Sheba blinked as her jaw dropped. She immediately covered her backside with her hands. Had she told Finch that? She couldn't remember.

"Then walk ahead of us!" Sheba replied fighting off a blush.

"I was, but you're walking way faster and you already walk faster than me without shoes," Finch whined.

Sheba frowned. Hyde's typical walking speed seemed to be something of a canter, so it didn't surprise her if Finch's short legs were having trouble keeping up. Sheba's frown morphed into a mischievous grin. "Well, if you weren't so short, we're certain you wouldn't have this problem. We hope you aren’t expecting us to carry you?"

Finch scowled up at her. “I’m not that short!” she protested.

“Perhaps we could ask Hyde for another of those carts,” Sheba suggested and exaggerated stroking her chin in feigned thought. Sheba smirked down at her, but Finch said nothing. She merely continued to scowl which prompted Sheba to continue. “Or perhaps we can fashion a harness, so we may tote you about on our back like a big baby.”

Finch’s jaw dropped. “Why, I oughta!” she threatened shaking her fist. Sheba giggled into her hand.

“Speak up. We cannot hear you from down there,” Sheba continued. She cupped her ear with her hand and leaned over. Finch kept scowling at her before turning away and stomping down the stairwell. Sheba giggled again and followed after.

They found Hyde waiting for them at the bottom, and the group fell silent as he led them through more passageways. Still grinning to herself, Sheba stole glances at Finch. For each one, the butterflies in her belly seemed to multiply until she felt she’d burst open if she didn’t confess on the spot. More than once, she thought it would all bubble up and spill out, but then her own embarrassment and trepidation would swell up to shove the cork deeper into the bottle. The emotional wave pool quickly grew maddening, so she purposefully tore her eyes from Finch and looked at Hyde. She certainly couldn’t bear herself with him present, after all. She would wait until they were alone.

After what felt like an eternity, they entered into a spacious room with the peculiar trait of only having half of a floor. Instead, two platforms spanned opposite sides, and the cloud sea lapped between them just below. A catwalk stretched across the clouds to join both together, but the sight churned Sheba’s stomach with unpleasant memories. Their adjacent walls each housed a transparent berth that docked a pair of little submarines.

“What are these?” Finch asked bounding over to one of the submarines.

“Survey pods intended… for expeditions to Morytha...” Hyde murmured. He drifted toward the edge of the platform and grasped the safety rail. "The flood pumps have been working for… hours, yet... half of the cloud... seawater still remains…” He shook his head then faced back around. He approached Finch who stood on her toes while trying to peek into one of the submarines. Hyde typed something into a keypad next to it, and a hatch lifted from the rear. A pair of doors slid apart to give access to the interior. “Feel free to… explore, but refrain from... pressing the emergency ejection… button… I never repaired… the glass…” Hyde then opened the second pod and wheeled his machine into it.

Sheba entered the survey pod behind Finch into what appeared to be a cargo hold. A far cry from the cramped tunnel she expected, she would even have enough space to comfortably maneuver her tub should she wish to summon it. Beneath a row of embedded lockers hung a row of pull down seats with safety belts. In a depressed alcove next to the door behind her, Sheba spotted a large red button. Yellow and black stripes outlined the alcove, and a few shards of glass still clung to the edges. Sheba made note to not allow Finch to press it.

“Hey Shirley, come look at this!” Finch called out from the next room. Sheba followed her voice into the cockpit of the pod. Two seats sat in front of a dashboard consisting of buttons, dials, and other instruments. Finch had her nose pressed against the wide bubble of glass just ahead of it. “You ever see anything like this?” she asked turning back to Sheba.

Sheba nodded sadly. It was the exact sight she had seen from the bridge. The Land of Morytha sprawled beneath them. Without the hull of  _ The Inquisition _ blocking her view, it appeared to stretch on forever. She took one of the seats then pulled her legs up to rest her cheek on her knees.

Finch plopped down into the seat next to her. She spun herself around with a gust of wind before grabbing the control console with her toes to stop herself. “I always like these kinds of seats, huh?” she said more than asked.

Sheba rolled her eyes and smiled. Who other than Finch could entertain themselves with a swivel chair? “We find such things quickly lose their glamour,” Sheba said.

“Yeah. When people get old, it’s like they forget how to have fun!” Finch replied sticking her tongue out at Sheba.

“We are not old!” Sheba protested with a scowl.

Finch giggled. “But bein’ forgetful has its advantages too, ya’ know?” she said using her legs to pivot the chair from side to side. “It’s hard to be bored when everything’s new. You never worry about the small stuff. You can even wrap yourself presents because you forget what’s inside them!” Finch laughed then turned to stare out into the cloud sea.

Sheba did the same. Her eyes settled on a pod of urobas serpronds circling the Ardainian titan’s legs. “It seems awfully inconvenient to us, though,” Sheba replied.

“Forgettin’s not so bad!” Finch chirped. “Sometimes ya’ keep rememberin’ something sad, and it’ll keep making you sad, but when you forget it, you aren’t sad anymore.”

Sheba raised an eyebrow. “But the reverse is also true, no? You forget things that make you happy and then are no longer happy.”

“Yeah... Sometimes I wonder about all the stuff I forget,” Finch said kicking her feet. “But I don’t think good and bad memories are so different. Memories are just stuff that happened already. Being happy or sad in them doesn’t make them good or bad, so forgetting happy stuff is okay, too.”

Sheba furrowed her brow. “We do not understand,” she replied. “How exactly are happy memories not good?”

“Because memories are different from remembering. I dunno how to explain it.” Finch bit her lower lip. She clenched her eyes and pointed to her forehead with her index fingers. “Like it hurts to bump your head, but it doesn’t hurt to remember bumpin’ your head. Got it?”

“Well, we certainly wouldn’t wish for our head to hurt every time we remembered such,” Sheba answered. “And we still don’t understand why anyone would want to forget things that make them happy.”

Finch paused. She looked down into her lap and kicked her feet once more. “Because happy memories can hurt, too,” she replied quietly.

Sheba frowned. Finch words only confused her further. “What sort of happy memories hurt?” she said a bit too impatiently.

Finch twiddled her thumbs. “Right now, it feels like all of them,” she replied. “I think maybe it’s a good thing that I’ll forget because remembering them hurts.” Finch glanced up at the Ardainian Titan before quickly averting her gaze, and everything she said seemed to snap together for Sheba. Finch dug her talons into the seat and stared down at Morytha, but Sheba’s features softened.

Sheba knew all too well what Finch felt. “We miss them, too,” she said. “However, we still do not wish to forget everyone. Even if they may hurt for now, we think those memories are still good ones. Certainly, you feel the same?”

“I don’t even have much choice…” Finch muttered.

“No?” Sheba asked. “If you do not wish to forget, we suppose that means that we will simply have to make you remember,” she replied. “Rest assured, Finch. For you, it is but a trifle and always within our graces.” Closing her eyes, she thrust her nose into the air and smirked.

When Sheba opened her eyes, she spotted Finch staring up at her wide-eyed with her mouth parted slightly and her eyebrows turned upward. Sheba’s core crystal tingled and her heart missed a beat thanks to the expression. “You mean that?” Finch asked.

“O-of course,” Sheba stuttered as she regained her composure. “After all, we certainly can’t have you forgetting about everyone. Who else will we have to talk to, then?” she added with a postured smirk.

Without breaking eye contact, Finch partially turned away, and a small smile flitted across her lips. “Thanks, Shelly,” she said kicking her feet.

“Think noth-” Sheba began to say, but Finch hopped from her seat and suddenly wrapped her arms around Sheba’s waist. Sheba’s heart leapt into her throat, and her face started to burn. This was her chance to confess. “We… uh… hehe…” she babbled as every butterfly on the planet suddenly collected in her stomach.

Finch released her. “I’ma go find Doc,” she said then dashed off.

For nearly a full minute, Sheba merely sat in shock while her heart raced. When she regained her senses, she mentally kicked herself. It wasn’t fair. Finch had taken her by surprise. It would have been the perfect opportunity, too. She crossed her arms to pout. She’d never confess if she allowed her own cowardice overtake her at every opportunity. Matters of love were far scarier than she thought they would be.

After another minute of silence, Sheba sighed. Perhaps she expected too much from herself. Should she, perhaps, take baby steps to her confession instead? Surely, smaller gestures of affection would be easier. Yes, she could do smaller. Satisfied with the notion, she rose to find Finch and Hyde.

She found them in the pod next door with much of the interior paneling removed. Hyde tinkered amidst an array of wires, tubes and other such parts while the trolley now functioned as a makeshift workbench.

"How do you know which ones to take off?" Finch asked as she looked on. Hyde mumbled something in reply, but Sheba didn't quite catch what. Finch handed Hyde one of the tools from the trolley while Sheba settled onto one of pull-down seats nearby.

Silently, Sheba listened to Finch ask all manner of questions while Hyde absently responded. Through the pod’s open hatch, she watched the cloud seawater cresting and idly wondered if this is how things would be from then on. Finch’s words had stirred her own homesickness, and she certainly missed everyone greatly. Heavy noises began filtering from above, and Sheba looked at the ceiling.

“Either you’ve got really fat neighbors or there’s a monster stomping up there,“ Finch remarked.

“The size of that... large guldo restricts it to… areas connected by the… cargo lift… It must be directly… above us…” Hyde replied.

“Do you mean to imply that elevator attaches to this very room? Does that mean that beast could make its way here?” Sheba asked.

“Yes…” Hyde replied and turned back to his work. Sheba blenched.

“If it does, I bet the three of us can pound it,” Finch said boxing the air. Sheba was not as assured.

“Certainly you do not intend to let it roam about forever?” Sheba asked.

“No… It has already... done extensive damage... to the crops and automatic... gardening system…” Hyde remarked. “I will solve… that issue in time…”

The mention of crops reminded Sheba of how hungry she had grown. She spent a few minutes fantasizing about past meals until her stomach let out a loud groan. Her face flushed, and Sheba glanced across the room. She spied Finch grinning at her which only served to make her face grow hotter. Crossing her arms, Sheba turned away pointedly, but this only prompted laughter from Finch.

“Oh yeah!” Finch said throwing open her satchel. “I forgot I had these!” She bound over then held her pouch open for Sheba to peer into. Squinting into the bag, Sheba spotted four meaty carrots, one tarnish apple, and two crunchy passionfruit. She raised an eyebrow and glanced up at Finch. She must have pocketed them before while in that walk-in refrigerator. Sheba reached in and withdrew one of the passionfruit. She dug into the soft skin with her nails and created a crease that she then tore to release the large seeds and slimy juice. She sucked the crunchy seeds through the hole in order to not sully herself with the sticky liquid.

“This would be delightful with some yogurt and a cup of tea,” Sheba said reminded of a parfait she had eaten a few days before.

“Yeah, that sounds pretty good,” Finch said nodding. She grabbed one of the carrots and shoved the end into her own mouth. “Hey, you want some, Doc?” Holding the carrot in her teeth, she offered the second passionfruit with one hand and the apple with the other.

Hyde glanced back. “Hard... food presents difficulty… for me…” he murmured then returned to his work. Finch shrugged then perched back next to him. Hyde picked up his lantern from the workbench to illuminate a band of wires.

"Hey, what kind of weapon is your lamp thingy?" Finch asked as she gnawed on her carrot.

"The guiding lantern is a... cannon variant..." Hyde replied as he pulled the band apart.

Sheba perked up. "An ether canon? Our weapon is also an ether cannon."

Hyde glanced back at her. His lens glinted as it caught the light. “Is that… so…? I would have… expected rings…”

“Rings?!” Sheba gasped. She didn’t know why, but she felt insulted. “Why would you assume rings?”

“Hmm… Perhaps… your hair…?” Hyde responded kneeling over the base of his machine. Sheba tugged on her pigtails and scowled. That didn’t make any sense. She opened her mouth to protest, but Hyde shot up and whirled around.

In a flurry, he combed over the assortment of parts scattered about. “Everything should… yes…” he muttered then swung around to face Sheba. Sheba jumped and backed away from the leathery beak hovering only inches from her nose. "I must return... to the medical... bay to gather additional... equipment…” Hyde said. He projected the ship with the display pass and pointed toward a room on the hologram. “I need you both to... restart the fuel... pumps while I… undertake more technical… tasks..." He adjusted the projection, and a yellow line joined the hangar to the room. He then placed the card into Sheba’s hands.

For a moment, Sheba merely stared at the display pass completely stunned. “Wait, we do not know how to operate this device,” she said looking up.

“It’s user… friendly…” Hyde said with a chuckle. “The pump controls are… physical, but the pass is capable… of interfacing with them…” he added. “Press the buttons… that appear… You will hear when… they switch on...”

“And what about you?” Sheba asked. “Do you not require this for the flood doors?”

Hyde tilted his head then produced a second pass. “It is… not unique…” he replied.

Sheba stared down at the pass then glanced at Finch who bounced on her toes in eager anticipation. She rolled her eyes. “Fine,” she said with a sigh. “We were growing bored sitting here, anyway.” She reluctantly rose to her feet and turned toward the hangar.

"Wait…” Hyde said catching her shoulder with his hand. “Take this…” He drifted toward one of the lockers and removed some sort of rifle from it. “Normally, a low... capacity ether battery.. fuels this, but... " Hyde said and placed the ether blaster in her hands, “a blade may.. instead use their… own ether...”

Sheba ran her fingers down the forestock and fingered the trigger. She lifted the blaster to look down the sight, and the lines along the barrel lit with a bluish glow from her ether.

“Will you have... issues using it…?” Hyde asked.

“Us?” Sheba lowered the rifle gave him a supercilious grin. “Doubtful,” she replied.

Soon she was back in the sprawling, cramped passages squinting into the darkness. Finch trudged close behind her, but Sheba found herself preoccupied with the blaster in her hands. Though much lighter than her cannon, it had a pleasant weight to it, and she was eager to know how it fired. She slung the strap over her shoulder as they came upon a fork to consult the map. She had no doubt this wretched ship would try to turn them in a completely different direction if she afforded it the opportunity.

They came across their first guldo kneeling with its head buried in its hands. Sheba held her index finger to her lips and turned to Finch then motioned for her to follow. Finch nodded. As much as she wished to fire the blaster, it still seemed prudent to exercise caution. The pair snuck past the guldo, but that caution was short lived as a second guldo rounded the corner. It screamed and tackled Finch’s raised shield.

The kneeling guldo shrieked to life behind them. Pumping as much ether as she could into the blaster, Sheba spun around. As she pulled the trigger, the monster raised a disfigured hand to strike her. The shot scattered with enough force to blow the guldo backwards, but the recoil also flung the blaster completely from Sheba’s hands. She scrambled to retrieve it before the monster recovered. Using less ether this time, Sheba braced herself and fired again. An ether bolt pierced the guldo’s skin but failed to halt its advance. Without releasing the trigger, Sheba flooded more ether through the barrel, and, puzzlingly, water gushed from the end like a firehose. The guldo shielded its face and struggled to maintain balance against the pressure. Sheba increased her ether and that congealed the torrent into a laser beam. The guldo writhed as the laser carved through its skin and sliced through one of its crystals. The laser quickly strained her ether, however, so Sheba let go of the trigger. Unsteadily, the guldo still clammered toward her. Sheba took aim, again. After loading the rifle with a modest measure of ether, she pulled the trigger. An ether bolt shattered the crystal in its head exactly as she wished. Sheba smirked. It may not possess the raw power of her cannon, but she would certainly make a killing with it.

“Incoming!” Finch shouted to her from behind. Sheba ducked as a guldo came sailing over her head and crashed onto the other. Finch landed next to her. The smaller blade charged forward while guldos untangled themselves. Sheba spotted a crystal in the back of one and shot it. The guldo fell limp.

After freeing itself, the second guldo screeched and flailed its arms. Sheba fired an ether bolt into its chest. The creature stumbled backward and tripped over the corpse of the other. Pushing herself with a gust of wind, Finch leapt into the air, spun around, and crashed her hammer into the large crystal erupting from the monster’s shoulder. Sheba fired another bolt damaging the crystal in its head. The creature thrashed its limbs until Finch swung her hammer into the guldo’s torso and crushed what crystals remained.

“That was almost too easy…” Finch said looking up from the now motionless body.

“We suppose it makes a difference knowing their weakness,” Sheba replied though she shared Finch’s sentiment. “And it was merely two…” she added. She kneeled over to flip the corpse and found no more crystals. “Regardless, we’d rather not delay.”

“Yeah, let’s go!” Finch replied. She bounded a few paces away then turned back around. “Wait, where are we going again?” she asked.

Sheba rolled her eyes. She hooked her blaster over her shoulder and left in the opposite direction. “Not that way.”

“Hey, I really don’t remember,” Finch said darting after her.

Sheba grinned. “That much was obv-” Something leapt at her through an open doorway only to be smashed under Finch’s hammer. Sheba frantically brought the creature into her sights but paused once she saw what it was. Even pinned beneath the hammer, the guldo clearly stood no taller than about half of her own height. It gargled and growled while its tiny fingers clawed the shield hammer like some rabid animal.

“It’s a kid one,” Finch said. She morphed the hammer into its shield form to better pin the creature. “I don’t really wanna kill it,” she said looking at Sheba. Sheba lowered her blaster and stared down at the guldo pressed flat beneath the shield. It flexed its pronged hand as it struggled to break free from Finch’s low weight.

Beyond its size, it seemed no different than the other guldos, but Sheba hadn’t the heart to kill it either. She wagered it had been no older than five whenever it changed. “We have a better idea,” she said circling around to place it between her and the open door. She took aim. “Release it,” she ordered. Finch paused a moment then pulled back. The guldo snarled and leapt to its feet. Sheba released a stream of water from the blaster’s barrel and washed the monster into the room. As she rushed to shut it inside, the guldo raised its pronged fingers toward her. A peculiar sensation grabbed her ether. It may have only been her imagination, but the guldo’s blue crystals also seemed to change shades just before the door slammed.

Outside of a wrong turn due to misreading the map, they found the pump room without further incident. Upon entering, however, Sheba’s heart caught in her throat. It sat atop what she guessed was a fuel pump. A row of them spanned the room, and a full length mirror hung on the far wall completely out of place. The spiderweb of cracks didn’t seem to deter the deadly beacon of red and blue that stared transfixed into it. “don’t cry,” the guldo muttered. “don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry” it repeated.

Sheba spotted a control box tucked in the far corner behind the guldo. She nudged Finch and pointed toward it. Suddenly, the creature lifted his head and howled at the ceiling. It then slammed its own face into the mirror producing more cracks. “don’t cry” it said again and started producing a cry that sounded equal parts both weeping and laughter to Sheba. It made her skin crawl.

“Yeesh… What do we do about that?” Finch whispered to her while pointing at the guldo.

Sheba bit her lip. “We do not know,” she admitted.

Finch stroked her chin for a moment. “Wait, I have a cunning plan,” she said. She took the display pass from Sheba and made her way toward the creature. When she neared, she started taking large, slow steps on her tiptoes. Sheba’s brow dropped in exasperation. Was Finch’s “cunning” plan simply to sneak past it? To her credit, though, it seemed to work. Finch reached the control box and flashed her a thumbs up.

The guldo twisted its disfigured face back toward her and smiled. Finch froze. “don’t cry” he said. Smoke rose from Saintless John’s back, and his flesh ignited into flames that plunged the room into orange light. John shoved Finch against the wall pinning her beneath her shield.

Frantically, Sheba doused the guldo with a stream of water from her ether blaster drawing his attention. Saintless John’s third eye fixated upon her, and he returned fire with a beam of flames. Sheba dove behind one of the pumps until the fire passed overhead. She then peeked up from behind her cover

“Get off!” Finch cried while pushing on her shield with her feet. With an added gust of wind, she knocked both it and Saintless John away. Leaping into the air, she grabbed her shield and crashed the hammer down onto the monster’s chest.

Unfazed, the guldo’s head lurched forward. He smashed his face into that of small blade standing on his stomach. Finch staggered backwards clutching her nose while John rolled back onto his feet. Sheba fired an ether bolt catching the monster in the back but missed the crystal she had aimed for. John whirled around spewing fire from his mouth and clouding his entire flank.

Finch tried to take advantage of the distraction, but the flames forced her to retreat instead. John lunged at her and swung his foot. He caught Finch in the ribs and punted her across the room toward Sheba. Sheba rushed over to check on Finch as she crashed to the ground, but Finch jumped back to her feet and held her shield in front of them.

Rearing back, Saintless John inhaled, and a narrow laser flickered between his third eye and Finch’s shield. He swung his head forward and an explosion erupted against the shield blowing Finch clean off her feet and backwards into Sheba. “don’t cry” John said as they crumpled near the corner of the room.

Sheba saw a red dot dancing across her chest. She looked up to see John inhaling for the same explosive attack. With Finch splayed across her, she couldn’t move. She had no time to aim, but she raised the blaster and shot it anyway. Her shot collided with John’s head just as he fired, and his own attack exploded in the guldo’s face. The smoke cleared, and John’s headless body wavered. It staggered forward taking a few steps before falling to its knees and then collapsing to the floor completely.

Sheba let go of a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding and laid back on the floor. She had gotten lucky. She turned her head to examine the guldo’s body. The crystals maintained their glow. She had blown its head off, but it did not even have the decency to be dead yet.

“Did you get it…?” Finch asked while making no effort to move.

“Mostly…” Sheba replied feeling her face grow hot from the contact against her stomach.

The tingle in Sheba’s chest fizzled away, and her heart sank when she noticed exactly why Finch hadn’t moved. Blood streamed from the smaller blade’s nostrils while her nose bent askew, and a bruise coated her left eye. “Everything’s blurry now,” Finch said holding her head as she lifted up. She squinted at Sheba and grimaced.

Failing to catch the blood in her hands, Finch threw open her satchel. She groaned and clenched her eyes. Sheba frowned then took it from her and rummaged through the bag herself. She found a handkerchief and began blotting the blood. “I got it,” Finch whined. Simply holding her eyes opened seemed to be causing her pain.

“Nonsense. You look as if you can barely see,” Sheba replied. “How many fingers?” she asked holding up her index and middle finger.

“Four,” Finch replied.

Sheba blinked. “See! Something is clearly wrong. Hyde should look at you,” Sheba said. Finch didn’t reply. She simply sat quietly as Sheba cleaned her face. “Now, let me attend his request and then we shall locate the judicious doctor,” Sheba said returning the handkerchief to Finch. Finch nodded and pinched her nose with it.

After using the blaster to wash the blood from her hands, Sheba stood up and realized that the strange guldo’s body had vanished. She shivered as she glanced across the room and found no place for it to have even escaped to. The sooner they left, the better.

She approached the pump controls unsure exactly how to interface it with the pass, but the devices connected automatically. Instead of the ship map, the card displayed 2D diagrams of the pumps with information and numbers that she neither understood nor cared to. Gray circles next to each diagram circumscribed a familiar white circle broken by a vertical line. The power buttons turned green as she pressed them, and the sounds of flowing liquid kicked up behind her.

When she finished, she turned to find Finch watching her though one half-lidded eye. “Well, then, let us make haste,” Sheba said, but Finch’s sluggish response was not lost on her. Whatever was wrong with her eyes seemed to be quite painful. “Leave them shut,” Sheba said scooping her hand up.

“It’s not that bad. I can still fight and stuff,” Finch protested and jerked her hand away. “I’m not a little kid.”

“We never said you were, and we have no patience for such obstinacy,” Sheba replied. “You are injured. Now hush.” Sheba snatched up her hand once more, but this time, Finch allowed her to lead her back into the hallway.

Finch remained quiet for a short while. “Sorry, I got mad,” she said eventually. “Just because I’m short, people treat me like a little kid.”

“Well, this is another matter. Do you think we would want to hold your hand, otherwise?” Sheba laughed. She then blanched and glanced back at the smaller blade. That had not come out as she intended. Finch might hate her if she thought Sheba was just using this as an excuse to enjoy herself.

“Yeah, I guess not,” Finch replied. Sheba’s heart sank. Now, she certainly regretted it. Finch thinking that she didn’t want to hold hands at all was no better. She wanted to profess exactly how she felt toward the smaller blade, but now wasn’t merely inopportune, it was outright bad. Perhaps, she should say something else. She had decided on baby steps, after all.

“We think you are deserving of a place in our entourage,” Sheba announced. Surely such an honor would cheer her up.

Finch peeked at her through one eye. “Huh?” she asked laughing. “I thought I was already in it,” she chirped.

The reply sent shame washing over Sheba. “It was long overdue,” she replied quietly. 

“Gee, well thanks, I guess,” Finch said. Another laugh was cut short as she winced.

Sheba deflated. How was she so awful at this? “How are your eyes?” she asked.

“One’s hard to move and hurts when I try,” Finch replied.

“Hyde should know what to do…” Sheba replied. Finch nodded and the pair fell into silence. Sheba sulked quietly for the rest of the walk. Luckily, they encountered only a single guldo on their journey back. Sheba was in no mood for it, so she blasted the monster back inside the room it had ambushed them from then carried onward.

They found Hyde welding panels back onto the side of the pod. Some large contraption now claimed the better part of the sub’s interior, and Sheba wondered if they’d been gone longer than she thought.

Hyde stood up when he noticed them. “Good... you’ve...” He paused when he spotted Finch. “been injured…” he said.

“Yep, the one we ran into was a real bonehead,” Finch replied “You know what I’m sayin’?” She giggled and then held her head. “Ow...” she groaned.

Hyde said nothing as he leaned over her to inspect her. His fingers glowed as he traced the rim of her eye and the bridge of her nose. “Nasal fracture and an orbital… blowout… Follow…” he said spinning around and leading Finch toward the corner of the hangar. Sheba felt it best to hang back and watched from a distance as Hyde helped Finch climb atop a crate and began tending her. The deep shadows from his lantern made it difficult to tell exactly what he was doing, however. When he finished, Finch bounded back toward her. She appeared much better. Her nose had been straightened and only faint color from the bruising remained.

“She’s… lucky... her diplopia subsided when… I reduced the… swelling and healed the… hemorrhaging…” Hyde said as he approached. “She will mend completely so long… as she refrains from… further facial trauma…”

“You heard the doctor,” Sheba remarked. “You must desist blocking attacks with your face.” Finch scowled and stuck her tongue out at her which made Sheba grin.

“Now follow…” Hyde said darting between them. “I have much to… show…” 

Sheba and Finch glanced at one another. Finch shrugged then trailed after the hunchback into the pod.

“Did you notice... the capsule…?” Hyde asked without even waiting for them to fully enter. He pointed at the massive machine, and Sheba barely bit back a snarky response. "It is constructed with… a salvaged technology called a… resonance disrupter... It can… obstruct the signals between… a bonded core crystal and… associated body… During this timeframe… it incinerates the... severed body and... when the disruption ceases… the core crystal is… fooled into reconstructing… a new body… The patient blade loses neither… their memory nor… bond to their driver… This procedure is called… a blade reboot and… it is the linchpin of… this ploy…”

Hyde kneeled next to the capsule and directed their attention to the machine he had carted in on the trolley. “Most of that work was long… complete, but I… noticed an oversight…” he continued. "These pods run... entirely on titans' blood…The specialized... converter in the... engine could not power the required... medical equipment…” He motioned back toward the bigger machine. “I successfully... retrofit a coupled converter... resolving this... issue…”

Hyde stood back up. “By comparison, external... lavation was far… simpler…” He pointed toward the door with his index and middle fingers. “When the hatch closes, the... pod will release an… aerosol disinfectant followed... shortly by running the negative air... filtration system…” Hyde explained. He motioned along the ceiling then pointed toward a rectangular device with a glass door. “Personal effects may… be thoroughly decontaminated via this… smaller chamber…” Hyde then looked back and forth between them expectantly. “It’s flawless…” he said. “I’ve had decades… to prepare it…”

Sheba didn’t know what he wanted. Hyde seemed eager for a response, but it felt like her mind had just glazed over. She barely understood half of what he had even said. “We have no idea what you are trying to explain to us,” she told him.

Hyde tilted his head. He then bowed it and his lenses seemed to glint. "A fresh body means... no pestilence… It… bypasses the quarantine…” he said. “It means you... may leave...”

Sheba’s heart leapt into her throat and her jaw dropped. Had she heard him correctly? “Is that what you have been doing this entire time?” she asked looking back at the big machine with new appreciation as Hyde picked up one of the few remaining panels. “Why didn’t you tell us this when we asked earlier?” Sheba pressed.

Hyde chuckled. “It may have ultimately... misled you and I… saw no benefit in… giving you false hope...” Hyde replied simply. “Plus I prefer… surprises...” he added with another laugh. He then turned back to the paneling.

Sheba turned away. She’d had enough surprises for some time, but she supposed this surprise was magnitudes better than other recent ones. A thought occurred. “Wait, but what of this incineration you mentioned?” Sheba asked. “That strikes us as dangerous.”

Hyde tilted his head back from his welding. “It isn’t completely… without risk but is ordinarily… safe…”

Sheba bit her lip. “That leaves us uncertain,’ she replied.

“Well, the alternative is… to stay...” Hyde murmured.

"Come on, Sheila, Doc knows what he's doing!" Finch said flapping her arms and grinning at her. Sheba hesitated. This was exactly what she wanted, but something still gnawed at her.

“Fear not… I know you.. have much waiting on… the surface...” Hyde said standing back up. He hesitated then came and placed his hand on her shoulder. He leaned close to her. “No one deserves to be… trapped here…” he added softly. Sheba looked at the eerie lenses that hid his eyes and wondered if "no one" included himself. What sort of life was he living? Sheba certainly would never wish it upon anyone. Hadn’t he also just said that he’d been working on his escape plan for decades? She hadn’t even been awoken for half as long, so who was this plan intended for?

“Hyde, we request that you accompany us back to the surface,” Sheba announced. She placed a hand on her hip and thrust her nose into the air.

Finch’s face lit up. “Yeah, yeah, come back with us, Doc!” she chirped bouncing in place and flapping her arms.

Hyde withdrew his hand. “Come… with you...?” he asked.

“Yes. We believe you should return with us,” Sheba reiterated. “This ship is no place to spend one’s life.”

“I have… obligations, my child…” Hyde replied bowing his head.

“Obligations to what? A dead driver?” Sheba retorted, and Hyde visibly flinched. “You’ve been down here so long that you’ve outlived your own country. Certainly, you’ve fulfilled those obligations.”

“I must… continue study…” Hyde replied softly.

“But is that true? Must you?” Sheba pressed. She didn’t know the answer herself, but if he had been down here as long as he claimed, surely he had done enough already. “Would it not be for the better if you returned with what you do know?” Hyde stared down at the ground for a long while, so Sheba drew close. She peered up into the hunchback’s lenses and took his large, spindly hand into her own. “We even have a driver who doesn’t need to be bonded to you. You’re a blade. It is in poor health for you to be alone,” she said.

“Yeah, Ray’s like a master driver or something! He can drive ANY blade!” Finch added.

Hyde glanced at Finch and chuckled. “Sometimes the young see… clearer the follies of the aged…” he murmured. He then turned to Sheba. “Forgive me but… I require time to… consider this request…” he said. Sheba smiled and released his hand.

Picking up his blowtorch, Hyde resumed welding. Sheba meanwhile took a seat feeling quite pleased with herself. She’d puzzled out the big spook and beneath that haunting mask was little more than a lonely, old eccentric. Even if he refused, she need only press a little more, and she was certain he would yield.

A klaxon siren pierced the gloom tearing Sheba from her thoughts. Hyde rummaged through his robes then produced his display pass. Flashing red, the pass projected a warning symbol and some text. “What…?” Hyde muttered. He stopped the flashing and swiped at the hologram. On the ship map, lines attached various locations to blue information boxes. A single red box among them drew Sheba’s eyes. “How… I was just..." Hyde whispered. "Structural damage to… the floor…? How is that…?" He stared silently at the ground. Suddenly, he lifted his head and turned his lenses to Sheba. “You…" he said.

Sheba jumped. “Me?” she asked pointing at herself.

"A water pipeline passes beneath… the medical bay…” Hyde said. “Did a guldo... mimic your water manipulation...?"

Sheba immediately recalled the little guldo she had spared. “It was just a child,” she said.

Hyde growled but said nothing. Instead, he shot toward and through the hangar entrance only to dive right back in as a blast of fire spewed from the other side.

“don’t cry” Saintless John murmured as he ambled through.

“Don’t you ever give up?!” Finch cried, flinging her arms into the air as she saw the guldo. John twisted his head toward her with a warped grin.

Hyde retreated backward toward them. “What is… that…?” he asked.

Sheba glanced at Hyde. “What do you mean?” she asked. “It’s a guldo is it not?”

“Presumably…” Hyde replied. “But I’ve never… encountered one like this…” John drew closer while his third eye rolled around in his forehead. It settled back on them, and he fired another beam. Hyde held his palm forward to create an ether barrier. The flames washed against the shield lapping at the sides. Hyde wavered. “This is beyond… simple mimicry…” he said.

“Don’t worry! I got your back!” Finch said raising a barrier of her own.

When the fire died down, Sheba blasted John in the chest. The guldo staggered backwards. He looked at her, but seemed no worse for it. “don’t cry” he said then fired a laser at her.

Finch rushed forward to block the attack with her shield. Hyde and Sheba fired their own lasers at John who seemed to think the attack was coming from Finch. He inhaled. The pinpoint, red laser blinked before the explosion blew Finch off her feet and back toward them. Hyde caught her with his free hand. John fired short bursts, but Hyde dangled Finch in front of each of the blasts. Between every attack Finch blocked, Hyde returned one of his own.

Meanwhile, Sheba continued to shoot ether bolts. John lunged forward clouding Finch and Hyde with fire, and Sheba frantically swapped to dousing the flames. She felt Hyde’s healing light bathe her, so she returned to shooting. Her bolt collided with a crystal in John’s chest and shattered it.

John howled. He inhaled as he turned to face her. The thin laser swept across the room before settling on her. Sheba scrambled to avoid it as Hyde and Finch slipped in front of her. The explosion collided with Finch’s shield leaving a cloud of smoke.

As it cleared, she spotted Finch and Hyde completely unharmed. Excitement surged through her. The monster wasn’t overwhelming them like before. She could focus on hurting it.

“Don’t cry ‘cause you can’t knock me down anymore!” Finch goaded pumping her arms and legs in celebration. Hyde tilted his head menacingly and took a step forward.

“don’t cry” Saintless John replied. He then began the same unnerving weeping and laughing sound from before.

Sheba lifted her blaster and brought John into her sights as Finch and Hyde continued to distract him. She had time, and she only needed a few clean shots. The first presented itself, and she shattered a crystal on John’s back. A second one and she broke the crystal in his leg. A third, and she cracked another crystal in his chest.

“don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry” Saintless John shouted stomping about in a ballistic uproar. It had set itself aflame and begun blasting off projectiles haphazardly to no avail. By Sheba’s count, the guldo had two more crystals left. She brought one into her sights, and just as she prepared to fire, the behemoth roared behind her.

Sheba whirled around in time to see a massive row of teeth climbing from the cloud seawater. Unforgiving Tabitha slammed her treetruck forearm on top of her, and Sheba screamed.

Finch and Hyde were upon her in an instant. Hyde scooped her up while Finch leapt into the air to bring her hammer down on Tabitha. Sheba could feel Hyde healing her as he carried her away from the guldo.

Sheba peeked around him back at Finch. She was doing her best to avoid attacks from both guldos, but something about Tabitha stood out to her. The smaller crystals it had before were no longer present. She could only see the glow from the large one on its belly.

“don’t cry,” she heard John saying.

Hyde laid her on the floor a good distance away. “Nothing… broken…” he said as he hovered both his glowing hands.

“You hurt it earlier,” Sheba said sitting up. “We only need to break one more.”

“The durability of… that ventral crystal demands more... power than my lantern or your… blaster can out… put…” Hyde replied while continuing to heal her.

“Then what about…” Sheba said pointing at John. Hyde turned to look then tapped the beak of his mask in thought.

“I have a collection of… auxiliary cores in… a locker over…” Hyde said pointing toward a survey pod across the catwalk, “there… If you find fire... reflection…”

“We understand,” Sheba said picking herself up despite the pain.

Sheba summoned her tub and rode straight through the cloud seawater. Rushing into the pod, she began flinging open lockers until she found a small wooden box. She dumped the entire contents and scanned the pile before plucking the correct core. Spinning her tub around, she then hurried back.

Near the catwalk she could see Finch fighting with John while Hyde contended with Tabitha. Both were clearly losing. Finch heaved as she blocked lasers while Hyde clutched his shoulder and weaved in and out of Tabitha’s reach. 

Sheba’s tub scraped against the railing as it squeezed into the catwalk. She needed to get the aux core to Finch as quickly as possible. She spotted the hangar doors begin to move, and her stomach doubled over. “Watch out!” she shouted.

Finch and Hyde stopped while the doors parted. Even John and Tabitha seemed to pause to watch the thing that entered. The man from the tank surveyed the room. Blue crystals jutted from his body. His skin had lost all color, and his jade hair had begun to fall out. The filaments in his mouth and eyes had turned a dull grey and clung precariously while small tendrils sprouted from the base of his neck.

“Bart…?” Hyde murmured lowering his lantern. Sikh took a step toward Hyde which prompted the blade to raise his weapon once more. Sikh took another step, but Hyde did not shoot. Sikh lifted his hand, and ether tethers shot out from the crystals in his body. Joined to his driver, Hyde looked down at himself in confusion before suddenly crying out in pain. “No…! Stop…!” he shouted as he collapsed to the ground. The tethers glowed a sickly green. Sheba had never seen a driver siphon ether by force. Sikh’s eyes and open mouth began to glow with a white light, and a white pattern swirled within his crystals.

Sheba squinted. She had seen that pattern somewhere before.

“Doc!” Finch shouted blocking John’s heat blast. She dashed toward him as Saintless John lumbered after her. The red patterns swirled in the guldo’s crystals catching Sheba’s eye. She glanced between the same pattern in both John and Sikh not quite understand what she was seeing but knowing that it was very bad.

Hyde convulsed in a heap as Finch leapt over him. Spinning in the air, she swung her hammer into Sikh’s jowl and sent him flying.

The tethers dispersed as Sikh collided with Tabitha before slamming onto his back. Slowly, Sikh returned to his feet while clutching his face. Unhinged and twisted from the blow, his jaw hung unnaturally wide. He gripped it, and Sheba balked when it moved independently from the rest of his face. She nearly vomited when Sikh ripped it off, and a writhing cluster of blue tentacles spilled out from the back of his throat. Sikh glanced down at the dismembered jaw he held in his hand and tossed it away like a piece of rubbish. He then made toward Hyde and Finch.

“don’t cry,” Saintless John said trailing in line next to Sikh. Finch knelt close to Hyde while the three guldos advanced upon her. A bolt of ether formed in Sikh’s hand casting an unnatural glow from below.

Finch shifted her hammer into its shield form. “Y-you don’t s-scare me!” she shouted holding it between her trembling hands.

Sheba had to do something. Hyde wasn’t moving, and those guldos would tear Finch to shreds. Her mind raced. All three were clustered together, but it wasn’t until she spotted one of the survey pod doors still wide open that she knew what needed to be done.

Not even a moment later, her tub crashed into Tabitha toppling her over onto John and Sikh. Tabitha struggled to right herself, but Sheba used the large guldo’s body to bulldoze all three straight into the pod until smashing right into the wall.

Sheba tried to spin the tub on its stern, but one of Tabitha’s limbs slammed against it and pinned the tub in place. Sheba dove to the rear and slapped her palm onto the ejection button cutting her wrist against the broken glass in the process.

Sheba caught sight of Finch staring at her wide-eyed, and it dawned on her that this would be the last time they’d ever see one another. Sheba could feel her core crystal breaking. She’d never hear another dumb joke or see her goofy grin. With tears in her eyes, Sheba shouted what would be her final words. “Finch, I lo-” The door slammed shut cutting her off. “-ve you…” she finished lamely.

Sour feelings all came crashing down around her. She couldn't breathe. She hated herself. She had taken everything for granted and waited for something to force her confession only to botch it like usual. Now, she'd never have another opportunity. “don’t cry” Saintless John said from behind. Sheba whirled around. She had no time to mourn her failures as John and Sikh freed themselves from beneath Tabitha. She ducked her head down into her tub and summoned a second one above her just as a blinding bolt of light crashed into it. Sheba curled into a ball while the guldos hammered away at her clamshell. She didn't know how long it would hold, but she knew they would kill her once they managed to breach it. With nothing else to do, she buried her face in her hands and wept while the pod rumbled and detached from  _The Inquisition._


	7. Alone

Finch could still feel the pressure against her lips as she drifted back into consciousness. Arms wrapped around her and held her close, but the memory was all distant and foggy. Curling up beneath the heavy sheets, she snuggled closer into the warm embrace. When she brought her finger to her lips, it pushed away the figment with an actual sensation. Finch chuckled to herself as she roused further. It was an odd dream for her to have. She wasn’t the type of person people kissed or wanted to kiss on the mouth. Maybe on the cheek but never the mouth. That type of sugar was reserved for someone special.

“And some must face the dark…”

Finch’s attention was pulled to the lullaby drifting from a short distance away. Who was singing? She even heard more than one voice. Finch rubbed her eyes with her palms. Pulling down the blanket, she looked up at the ceiling. A soft light bathed the metal panels. She turned her head to the source and found a large, black figure hunched over Shani. She lie in another bed across from Finch but had not woken up yet. The stranger’s back was turned. His hat, hood, and shroud obscured everything but his hands. They occasionally peeked out from ahead of him before returning to hide again. It may have been frightening if not for the soft voice… voices that radiated from him. He was choir unto himself.

A lantern and a black mask sat on the table next to him. The mask reminded Finch of a bird’s face thanks to the way it protruded from where its mouth would be. It obscured the lanternlight and cast a shadow large enough to dim her side of the room. She listened to the words the stranger sang as she looked at the light.

“Let those people see~ Guide the ones who cannot hear…” The chorus swelled as more voices joined in. “Voices guide us through...”

The song was pretty, but Finch wanted to know what the person was doing. She sat up and flung off the covers. Swinging her legs to the ground, she hopped down. Her talons clacked against the chilly, metal floor, and the chorus stopped cold. Finch, herself, froze at the sudden silence. The figure reached out to the table. He grabbed the mask without turning. Finch watched his back as he slowly put it on.

The hooded figure swiveled to face her as he stood. Easily twice her height, he towered over Finch. He stepped forward to look down at her. At first, Finch’s eyes didn’t make it all the way up into his face. Instead, they settled on his core crystal as it drifted closer.

Her gaze rose further up and met the expressionless lenses. “I like your mask!” Finch said grinning as she pointed at the blade’s face.

The blade paused and tilted his head. “You… too…” he murmured almost inaudibly.

“Is Sheila okay?” Finch asked looking back at her friend.

The blade glanced back as well. “She… will be…” he said with a voice sounding much more strained than his singing. “I reduced... the joint, and I… accelerated the healing with my… ether... I then applied a… salve… She will… recover...”

Finch walked over to Sharla’s bedside. Her glistening, golden hair pooled around her face. Signs of minor bruising and cuts had already begun to fade. They were so much easier to see without feathers, though. She slept calmly without any sign of pain. It was kind of weird, though. Sheeva was never calm. Angry, happy, sad, or lecherous but never just calm. She was too energetic to be. She even made faces in her sleep, so Finch found the total lack of expression a little concerning still. Finch brushed a few stray strands from from the sleeping blade's face careful not to scrape the skin with her claws before resting her palm on Shelby’s cheek.

“She was hurt pretty bad, right? And you fixed her?” Finch asked remembering the scream she had heard after the catwalk had broken beneath them and they had been left dangling above the whirlpool. She turned to the tall, hunched blade. “Does that make you a ‘Doc,’ Doc?”

“Yes… I am a… physician...” the blade replied, “But... my name is… Hyde…”

“Hyde, huh? I’m gonna just call you ‘Doc,’ Doc. Is that okay?” Finch replied putting her hands behind her head and smiling.

Doc tilted his head again. “I… suppose…” He shuffled for a moment before going to the table to pick up the lantern. “How… do you feel…?” he asked.

Finch tilted her whole body at the waist and placed a finger to her lips. “Umm… I think I could eat a horse,” she said rubbing her stomach.

“Ah, food… With that, I can... assist... Please… follow...” Doc said then faced the door. He paused a moment then turned back around. “But what exactly is... a ‘horse…’?” he asked.

* * *

At first, Finch didn’t understand what had happened. The guldos had all been preparing to attack at once. Doc spasmed at her feet, so Finch looked down at Doc. It was only for a second. When she looked back up, all the monsters were gone. Finch scanned the hangar. She caught sight of Shelby’s bath tub crammed into the survey pod. A moment later, she saw the guldos crowded inside as well. Only then she understood.

Shirley spun around and hit something on the wall. Their eyes met, and Sharla made a sad expression. “Finch, I lo-” she tried to shout, but the doors cut her off.

“Sheila!” Finch shouted back. Her core crystal hurt seeing Shelly closing herself up with all the monsters. The pods engines fired against its berth causing the whole hangar to rattle. It shook enough to send Finch tumbling backwards onto her bottom, but as quickly as it started, everything fell silent.

As the shock wore off, Finch began to sniffle. She pounded her fist against the floor. It was her fault. She should have done something, but she couldn’t do a thing. Her hammer and wind had been no match for all those big monsters. What good was she if she couldn’t even protect people? Even if she tried really hard, she was always making things worse for everyone else. She’d forget stuff even if it was important. No one could count on her for anything. Fighting was one of the few things she was even good at, but now her friend was going to die because she was just a weak, dumb birdbrain.

Finch sobbed into her palms. She could only imagine the guldos mauling Sheba to death. There was no way she'd last long in there.

Doc grabbed her arm and gasped for air. Finch jumped. Her eyes snapped to him. Even through his mask, she could tell he was having difficulty focusing on her. He clutched at the clasp of his shroud only to drop his hand into his lap repeatedly. Pieces of his core crystal were still lit but others parts had dimmed and gone inactive. A few places even seemed to be shining brighter than normal. It terrified Finch. She couldn’t remember ever seeing anything like it.

“Help me… med..." Doc said through spasms, " m-m-med... medi-di… medi...” His voice jittered like a skipping record.

Medi? Finch’s mind raced. She could tell he was trying to say something more. There was a word that made sense. She only needed to remember it. “Medic? ...medical?” she asked squinting.

“Bay…” Doc said.

Finch clenched her eyes and furrowed her brow. “Medical bay?” she asked. Doc squeezed her wrist. Finch grinned happy that she had figured it out. He wanted to go to the medical bay again. Did he know a way to fix himself? Finch's eyebrows shot up.

Suddenly, she had a plan. Finch wanted to save Sheena even if she was just a crystal again and didn't remember anything. Finch would do her best to fill her back in, but she had to get to her somehow. Doc needed her help, too, though, but he knew how to operate the ship and stuff. If she got him patched up first, they could go save Shirley. Finch repeated the sequence over a bunch in her head so she wouldn't forget it.

Getting Doc to the medical bay would be easy except for one problem. Finch didn’t remember how to get there. She clenched her eyes and pointed to her head trying to recall how the sprawling corridors connected. She quickly gave up when she instead remembered that Sharla had had trouble with that same thing. There was no hope for Finch. She needed a different solution. She needed something to tell her how to get there. Finch whirled around to find the digital pass.

Scanning the hangar, she caught sight of the ether blaster near the catwalk. It seemed useful, so she darted over to scoop it up. Finch halted when the contact caused it to grip her ether and take on a greenish glow. Finch grinned wryly. "You talkin' to me?" she said pointing it. "You talkin' to me?" she asked again then pointed it in a different direction. "Well, I'm the only one here," she chirped.

Laughing at herself, she paused again. A bad feeling was nested in her core crystal, but she wasn't sure why.

Finch looked around. When she spotted Doc on the floor, it all flooded back to her. She had something to do, and she couldn’t forget it. It was too important. Hastily, Finch rummaged through her purse and pulled out a notepad. Seeing the spirals empty, she searched deeper for a pencil, but found a blue crayon instead.

"Step 1," she wrote in big letters. Underneath it, she wrote "Fix Doc." She then added "Step 2" and "Save... " Pausing she tapped the crayon over the letters unable to recall if her name was Shelley or Sharla so instead drew a mermaid with pigtails.

Satisfied, Finch stuffed the crayon into the spine. She latched a lanyard to the notepad and hung it around her neck. She still needed a map, though. Wait! Didn’t Doc have one in his pocket? The notepad bounced against her core crystal as she bounded back to him.

Finch dropped to the floor and patted Doc down. She felt the card hidden in the lining of his sash and fished it out. She then slung Doc's arm over her shoulder. He was so much taller that he still knelt on the ground. Finch frowned. Squirming to get beneath him, she hoisted Doc upright.

"Me-medi... Medi..." Doc mumbled.

"Don't you worry," she answered. "Finch is on the job!"

Doc braced himself by placing his hands on her shoulders, but otherwise remained unresponsive. His breathing tremored. Finch gripped his elbows and helped him take a shaky step forward.

“Whoa!” Finch cried as Doc suddenly pulled her backwards. He reached toward his lantern that lay on its side a few paces back. Finch barely managed to keep them balanced. She created a gust of wind that slid it toward her. After catching it with her foot, she looped the handle around her wrist. Apparently satisfied, Doc groaned and returned to supporting himself on her shoulders.

When they reached the doorway, Finch consulted the digital pass. She poked at the projection and managed to display the map. Doc reached up to paw at the hologram as well, but Finch grabbed his hand. She studied the hallways. Her gaze traced what she thought was the fastest route. She then wedged the card under her vambrace.

Making their way through the corridors was a slow process. The notepad bouncing against her core crystal kept her focused, but Finch had to stop at every intersection to check the route. For some reason, the few giddos they came across seemed to be unresponsive. She wasn't going to complain, though. Eventually, they came upon a set of stairs. Finch paused. She wasn't certain how she would help Doc scale them.

Finch approached the bottom of the stairwell and guided Doc to support himself on the railing instead. She then slipped from under the much taller blade. Gently, she urged Doc forward, and he pulled himself up a step. It was arduous, but step-by-step, she ushered him upward until they finally reached the top.

On the last step, Doc collapsed back onto her, and Finch almost fell down under his sudden weight. From the corner of her eye, she could see that most of his core crystal had now gone dark. The faint ether that radiated from his lenses flickered and faded like a dying bulb. Finch struggled to balance his limp body. Luckily, his muscle spasms had reduced to minor twitches. With great difficulty, Finch managed to hoist Doc across her back and head. His fingers touched the floor and his feet still drug on the ground behind her, but it was the best she could do. She heaved while lugging the much larger blade along.

After what felt like an eternity, they arrived at the medical bay. They entered the room that had once held Doc's driver in stasis. Immediately, Finch rolled Doc off her back, and nearly dropped him in the process. She propped him against the wall. Once she ensured he was stable, she collapsed next to him gasping.

When she finally caught her breath, Finch looked around. Glass and liquid from the shattered tank bathed the floor. Well, at least what hadn’t gone down the big, gaping hole. They were in the medical bay now, but Finch didn't remember what to do next. She noticed her notepad and picked it up to check if she had written that down. It told her nothing. She would just have to remember on her own.

Finch clenched her eyes. How was she supposed to help Doc? She needed to remember what he had told her. She wracked her mind. She reviewed the entire series of events following from when gardos had attacked them until now. She clearly remembered Doc telling her to bring him here. She couldn't remember any instructions after that, though. He must have told her something. Was it then or on the walk here? Finch didn’t know. She must have forgotten again. She always forgets. She felt tears welling up but pushed them down. Right now, it was too important to forget. She pointed at her head with her index fingers willing the memory to return. Finch tried as hard as she could, but still nothing came.

She squeezed her eyes harder. She wasn’t going to let her friends die because she couldn’t remember stuff. She just needed one memory. Finch tried with all her might to remember what Doc had told her to do now. She tried until her head hurt. She tried until her eyes began to water. She tried until she didn't think she could anymore, and then she still kept trying.

Nothing.

Finch clutched the feathers on her head. They really were going to die because of her. She was so useless and stupid and dumb and… Finch paused. Maybe she was just too upset. She’d remembered stuff before, so why should this be any different? She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Her breath caught in her throat when the block burst like a dam, and the memory washed through her.

Bart had smiled at her softly, but his eyes were distant. “I wanted to show you this,” he had said leaning over the table and motioning toward the tray of vials he had pulled from the room’s freezer.

“And what exactly is… this...?” Finch asked picking up and turning the vial over in her hand. She could see a small lump of flesh frozen inside.

“I’m sure you can tell. They’re tissue samples. Mine, actually,” Bart said his smile fading. “They’re for you.”

Finch peered through the plastic at the preserved sample. A burning pit had formed in her stomach. “For... what…?” She asked; though, she knew what was coming.

Bart crossed his arms then sighed “I… I want you to make yourself your own driver,” he said.

Finch lowered her head having expected as much. “I don’t want to... be a flesheater…” Finch replied.

“I don’t like that term,” Bart mumbled averting his gaze. “The procedure is safe. I’ve even prepared the machine already, so it should be painless.”

“I don’t care about… that…” Finch said returning the vial to the tray. “They’re not… blades… anymore…” She lifted her lantern bringing it to her face to play with the valve. “Being alone… changes them, and… I do not wish… to remember your death… ”

Bart flinched, but his features hardened almost immediately. He would not ask this of her if he felt he had the choice. He had already resigned himself to his fate it seemed. It was written on his face. “We can still… cure you…” Finch said not looking up.

“Like we cured the others? There’s no guarantee we’ll succeed any more than we have already, and we certainly can’t go back up,” Bart replied as his sad smile returned. He placed his hand on Finch’s shoulder and looked up at her. “You’ve been my best friend for so long, and we’ve helped so many people together. Sometimes it felt like nothing could stop us, but there always came along that one patient who we couldn’t help.” Bart paused turning to prop himself over the table with his hands once more. He stared down at it briefly. “I don’t want to be the person who brings this to the surface. I helped build this ship, so I could help people… not deliver plague upon the world. That’s what’s going to happen if I go back and I take this disease to Judicium. We’d kill everyone. At least this way, it stays down here: Contained.”

Finch continued to stare at the dancing light in her lantern. She knew Bart was right. _The Inquisition_ needed to be quarantined, but Finch hated the thought of losing her driver. What purpose would she have if he was no longer around? She had watched him grow from an ambitious if headstrong young man into one of the Atelier’s most renowned surgeons and engineers. She had lent her wisdom in his times of doubt. She had shielded him from monsters and felons. She had been there when the accident took his son and wife. In thirty years of friendship, they were one another’s only true constant, so going on alone was unthinkable. “I don’t want to... be a flesheater…” Finch repeated.

“It’s not about what either of us wants,” Bart said shaking his head. He looked up at her with grave seriousness. “I need you to… study me.”

Finch turned to meet Bart’s gaze. “Study…?”

“I’ll go into stasis like the others,” Bart said leaning into her and motioning along with his hands as he spoke. “I’m in the earliest stages. You’ll have the perfect specimen to observe the pestilence. Maybe you’ll find a cure, but even if you don’t, you seem to be immune. You can bring what you do discover back to the surface without me. That will give them a starting point at least. You know others will find their way down here eventually.” Finch said nothing allowing the words to sink in as Bart’s eyes pleaded with her.

Ultimately, Finch pulled away. She wanted to say that Bart’s plan was insane, but it wasn’t. It was logical. Too logical in fact. He’d always been good at not letting his feelings get in the way of his work. It made him a good doctor, and Finch had always fancied it something of her own influence. Finch glanced back at Bartholomew and could see in his expression that he had more to say. Her stomach rolled over. “Is that all… you wish to… ask of me...?” Finch murmured feeling the worst was yet to come.

Bart’s expression darkened confirming her belief. “No. There’s something else I’d like for you to do...” He trailed off. Finch tilted her head slowly, and Bart took the cue to continue. “I don’t want to live like those things do,” Bart said frowning. “So will you please… kill me… once I go too far?” The wrinkles along his eyes gathered as he winced at his own words.

Finch’s heart shattered. She turned away once more. Being alone was one thing but doing so by her own hand was another. She wracked her brain for another solution or to at least find a flaw in Bart’s, but it was to no avail.

After taking in Finch’s silence, Bart began to speak again, “I understand if you don’t want-”

“I will…” Finch interrupted as the feelings of defeat and sorrow drowned her under their suffocating weight. “I will… study you, and then... I will murder you…” Finch ran her finger along the base of her lantern. She could feel tears pooling in the sockets of her mask.

Bart’s hand returned to her shoulder. “I’m sorry I have to ask you to do this, Hyde. I never thought this was how it was going to end.”

Finch didn’t turn around. She stayed silent until the moment came that she could again speak clearly. “I… understand…” she replied then glanced at the transplant machine in the corner of the room. It would make her a flesheater… but not now. Not soon. She drifted back toward the table scooping up the tray of vials and returned them to the freezer.

When she had finished, she noticed that Bart had moved over to the machine. “I’m sure you remember how this thing works, but I’ve already input the specific procedure parameters, so you can just hop in. All five samples should make you rather stable.” Bart glanced up at Finch over his reading glasses. “Unless you’d prefer I do it myself, that is.”

Finch stared at the ground. “No…” she murmured.

“I understand. Don’t wait too long, though,” Bart said powering down the machine. He grinned at Finch. It was mostly fake but did hold a genuine spark. “Let’s take one of the preservation tanks from the research ward,” he said. “I bet I’ll get the power adapted before you get the tank over.”

Finch snorted. That would likely take Bartholomew all night of tinkering, and she would have the tank moved in an hour. “If I win, you... drink the rest of... that alleged ‘milkshake’ you... made...”

Bart’s face curdled with horror. “You wouldn’t torture a dying man would you?”

“Of course… I would...” Finch muttered.

Finch opened her eyes. She blinked a few times to rid herself of the starry patterns etched into her eyeballs. The sparks splattered across the dark ceiling quickly disappeared. She spotted Doc crumpled against the wall. Finch’s heartbeat sped up. She remembered doing something important, but she couldn’t remember what. His clothes bled into the darkness under the dim light while his core crystal danced. Different parts lit and unlit. His body spasmed, but he said and did nothing.

Finch realized she now held her notebook clutched between her hands. She glanced down, and the words jogged her memory. She had to put Doc in the machine, put the vials in, and turn it on. Afterward, Doc would help her get Sheila back from the guanos. She furiously scribbled these details into her notepad.

She grabbed Doc's lantern from the floor beside her then threw his arm over her shoulder. Holding the lamp ahead, she scanned the medical bay. The machine was now covered in dust but still sat in the same corner.

Finch drug Doc toward the machine. She flipped open the hatch. Straining, she shoved Doc's limp body over the edge and inside. She then dashed toward the refrigeration unit and found the samples exactly where she remembered. Finch hurried them to the transplant machine and inserted the vials into the five slots.

Finch then scurried around toward the procedure console. She swiped the screen, but it remained dim. Finch blinked then furrowed her brow. She swiped again, but nothing happened. She dropped to her knees to make sure the power cable wasn't damaged. A moment later, she stood back up scratching her head.

Another moment later, she slapped her own forehead. How could she forget that they'd only reactivated the fuel pumps? The main turbines were still turned off to conserve the ship's stores of titan's blood. The little backup she had turned on earlier was never going to provide enough power. She had to engage a primary generator.

Facing the door, Finch ran her finger between her vambrace and forearm. Not finding the digital pass, she whirled around on her rear toes. Had she dropped it? She didn’t spot it on the ground, so she checked her purse. When Finch saw it inside, she sighed. She didn't remember putting it there. She quickly mapped her route, and then tucked it back under her vambrace. When she looked up again, she spotted her leather bolero hanging next to the door. She hopped over to retrieve it, but for some reason, she had to stand on her toes to even touch it. She knocked it off with a gust of wind and lowered her goggles. The hat landed on her head, and she adjusted the brim low across her brow. Now she was ready.

On her way through the medical bay, Finch passed examination room six and paused. For some reason, she didn’t like this room. Hesitantly, she drew near. It looked like all the other examination rooms, but she could always see it. Though the blood was long cleaned, the memory still felt so fresh.

Doctor Julius had lie sprawled on the ground with a scalpel shoved through her face. Blood had pooled across the floor from her slit throat and splatters stained her lab coat. The field examiner Finch had left with the doctor was huddled in the corner shivering and covered in blood.

Apprehensively, Finch stepped through the red puddle. She leaned over clutching her lantern. She dangled it higher as she spoke. “Dorothea…” she said. The examiner looked up as if she hadn’t even noticed her come in. “What… happened…?” Finch asked motioning toward the room.

“I didn't mean to! She had that needle! It was just an injection, and I stabbed her! I don't know why!” Dorothea cried through her tears. “I stabbed her until she stopped moving! I don’t- I don’t know why!” Dorothea clutched her head shaking it hysterically.

Finch reached down to touch her shoulder careful to hunch rather than kneel in the blood. "Relax... please..." she said.

Suddenly, Dorothea grabbed onto Finch’s clothes and buried her face in her stomach. “I felt like someone else,” she sobbed. “Hyde, why did I kill her?”

Not knowing what else to do, Finch returned the embrace.

Finch shook her head to help dispel the memory and shuddered. She didn’t have time to be rememberin’ stuff. The generator control rooms were two floors down back near where she’d just come from.

She rushed through the hallways in a full run without even stopping to check the pass. For some reason, the ship’s layout seemed so clear to her now. She even took a shortcut through some rooms that she was only half sure she’d never been in. Everything went smoothly until she neared the control room.

She had done a great job avoiding the gordos until now, but a big one had parked itself in the hallway between her and her destination. Worse yet, Finch recognized it. It sat cross-legged part way through an adjacent doorway. It rested back on its elbows while cradling a baby doll in a second pair of arms.

“Boy baby little boy baby” Tormented Terri said rocking the doll back and forth. Her deep voice resonated through the corridor. Finch shuddered at the guldo’s babbling. That type of babble haunted her. A memory threatened to resurface, and Finch attempted to stave it off.

“Birdie big birdie…” Torben had babbled a long time ago. Finch watched as he reached for her through the bars of his cell. A few of the other maintenance staff shared the same cell, but they mostly ignored her. The brig was well beyond capacity, and between the infections and murders, the crew had swiftly dwindled. Finch took one of the sandwiches from the platter she carried and offered it to Torben. He took it then flung it back at her. She made no effort to move, so it bounced off her chest. The ingredients scattered across the floor, but Finch made no effort to clean it, either. She carefully avoided Torben’s hands and set the platter on the ground near the cell. She retrieved her lantern from the floor and turned back toward the research labs. There was nothing she could do for the poor boy beyond return to their work.

Finch sighed and clutched the notepad hanging around her neck. She looked down at the words and then back at the monster. The guldo was just playing with a toy like a child, but Finch didn’t want to find out how it would want to play if it spotted her. She had to get by it, though. She picked her toes up to prevent her claws from clacking against the floor, and inched her way closer.

It remained completely oblivious cooing at the doll while she approached. Its bulky back and rigid crystals left only a narrow gap between the guldo and the opposing wall. Finch bet that she could just barely squeeze past if she sucked her belly in, so she quietly propped her shield against the wall. Biting her lip, she slid carefully behind the monster. On the other side, she let go of the breath she had been holding and wiped her brow.

“After hospital mama’s gonna get your new stuff from Carol,” Terri said while stroking the doll’s head.

Finch reached back to pull her shield across, and the tips of her feathers brushed against the guldo’s ribs. Terri suddenly jumped away giggling. “That tickles!” she cried.

Terri stared at Finch who replied with an uneasy grin. “Hehe… I’m just… uh… goin’ that way…” Finch said pointing toward the generator control room. Finch turned away then broke into a full run.

“No, you’re gonna be it,’ the guldo shouted rushing after her. Terri grabbed hold of the feathers on the back of Finch’s head and yanked her backward. Her hat hit the ground distracting Terri.

Finch spun around and raised her shield. She pulled the blaster from her back and fired away, but somehow managed to miss the massive target bearing down on her. Terri grabbed hold of her shield. Finch resisted as the guldo tried to pull it away. She shifted it into its hammer form, but the monster grabbed her with her second pair of arms. The hammer slipped between her claws, and Finch was flung in a completely separate direction.

Finch caught herself with a gust of wind. Holding the blaster’s trigger, she filled it with ether. A whirlwind spewed from the barrel. Terri staggered, and Finch focused the little tornado on the guldo. Terri gripped the wall in her hands and began crawling toward Finch.

The tornado wasn’t working, so Finch started just shooting the blaster. Terri screamed as the bolts hit her skin, but the blaster was a lot harder to aim than Sharla had made it look.

“Stacy, everybody puts stuff in that fridge for themselves,” Terri shouted. “Not for you, you fat cow!” She dumped Finch’s hat onto her own head then tried to storm away. The guldo stopped in front of the closed door seemingly confused. “Sunday…” she muttered.

Confused too, Finch stopped shooting. Did it forget about her? The guano was simply standing at the door. Finch glanced down at the notepad that still hung around her neck. She didn’t have time for this loony thing. Finch crept closer. She shoved the barrel of the blaster right next to a crystal in Terri’s hip and fired. Terri cried out and rounded on her.

Using her bottom arms, Terri snatched Finch up by the waist. The gidro’s other arms ripped the blaster from her hands then reached for her throat. Finch locked fingers with the top arms and pushed against them. Terri released her waist. Finch kicked, but Terri snagged her ankles with her lower hands. The guldo then began pulling her limbs in four separate directions. Finch cried out from the pain.

“Eenie meenie minie moe…” Terri mumbled.

“Let go!” Finch shouted. She tried to pull free, but the guldo was stronger. She couldn’t move. Terri giggled and pulled on her harder. Finch sucked in air through her teeth as the pain in her joints increased. She struggled, but all she could do was make this kooky thing laugh. Finch’s eyes widened. She bowed her head and rubbed the tall feathers along the guldo’s neck and armpit. Terri reacted immediately. Squirming, Terri released Finch’s right arm and leg.

Finch swung her leg around and grabbed onto Terri’s face with her foot. She drove her rear talon into the guldo’s eye. Terri shrieked and grabbed her face with all four hands. Finch landed on her butt. She spotted her hammer and made a break it.

“No poking!” Terri shouted and flailed. One of her arms caught Finch in the chest and knocked her down. Terri, instead, snatched up the hammer and swung it. Finch rolled to avoid her own weapon crushing her. She grabbed the blaster lying next to her and leapt into the air.

Finch landed on Terri’s back. Terri tried to grab her, but Finch swatted the hands with the butt of the rifle. She shoved the barrel against another of Terri’s crystals and fired at point-blank. Terri screamed. She grabbed hold of Finch’s tail and flung her off. Finch collided with the ceiling and fell to the ground.

Groaning, Finch sat up. She had landed on top of the baby doll and had no idea where the blaster went. Terri climbed on top of her. The giddo pinned her down with three of her arms and raised the remaining one into the air.

“Look, it’s your baby!” Finch said holding the doll up.

Terri paused. She lowered her hand and stared with glazed eyes. Finch couldn’t tell what was going through its head. Terri took the doll and retreated with it. Finch smiled then sighed in relief.

Terri never broke eye contact with Finch. Instead, she held the doll by the leg and slung it into the ground. “My baby’s dead!” she screamed. She slammed the dolls head into the ground repeatedly. Finally, it popped off and bounced over Finch. Terri held her own face weeping tearlessly.

Finch glanced toward the control room door and tried to decide whether she should make a break for it.

“Babies don’t just die!” Terri roared at her. “You did something!” The guldo advanced toward her with an expression mad with rage.

“I didn’t do nuthin!” Finch replied backing away on all fours.

“Don’t lie to me, Martha! It wasn’t an accident!” Terri replied.

Finch dove through the doorway the guldo had originally been sitting in. A series of tall, gas cylinders attached to the wall alongside associated pipes, valves, and gauges. Terri followed her in. The guldo eyed the the cylinder bank of replacements next to the door. Grabbing it with all four hands, she yanked it and dislodged the steel cable holding it in place.

Finch couldn’t quite remember how she knew they weren’t empty but felt thankful the guldo hadn’t damaged the overflow tanks.

Terri flung the cylinder toward her. Finch narrowly avoided it as it bounced against the ground. “You dress like an idiot, Ted!“ Terri shouted. She stormed toward Finch with another canister held by both right arms. Finch leapt into the air and vaulted across the gaddo’s shoulders.

As Terri spun back to face her, Finch unraveled the cable from the bank. She slid between the monster’s legs along with the cable. She then twisted it a few times around itself until it knotted. Evading the hands that reached for her, she darted out the door. Terri barreled after her, but when the cable drew taut, she fell forward onto her face.

“Stop! Don’t touch me!” Terri screamed. She tugged the cable and clawed the ground trying to pull herself free.

Finch stood in the door simply watching the guldo struggle. After a moment, she sighed and wondered if it would have been faster to just double back to the other generator. Too late now. She collected her hammer, hat, and blaster while marching down the hallway toward the control room. Finally, she entered.

After slinging the blaster over her shoulder, she darted up to the computer. She input the administrative password and engaged the turbine. Noise began filtering through the floor above her, and the lights darkened. Finch frowned then settled into a chair. The generator had been off for so long. She hoped it still functioned properly. After a few minutes, the lights shone brighter than they had originally. Finch grinned. It felt like forever since she didn’t need to strain her eyes.

She hopped up to leave, and mechanical noises rose up from below her as well. Puzzled, Finch paused until she remembered that one of the steering propellers was maintained from this room, too. They allowed for faster and more precise movement than the retractable fins but were several orders more delicate. The brownout had probably triggered their diagnostics routine. She shrugged it off. She was heading up -- not down, so it didn’t matter.

Finch opened the door only to find Terri roaming around the hallway again.

“One fish two fish one fish two fish” Terri muttered. She held the headless doll in one hand but wasn’t playing with it like before. The cable still hung from her ankle. At the end, the metal plate that secured it to the bank trailed along. Terri seemed to be looking for something. She spotted Finch. “Martha, don’t tell mama that I hit. I’m really sorry,” she said while walking toward her.

Finch shut the door. Why couldn’t this thing just go somewhere else? She heard Terri collapse against the other side sobbing.

“I’m always alone… Why doesn’t anybody like me?” the guldo asked through the door. “It’s because I’m too selfish isn’t it? I was never a good big sister, Martha, but you screened clean. Stop worrying about me and go evacuate. It’s safe up there.”

Resting her hand on the smooth metal of the frame, Finch stared at her feet as she listened to it crying. She knew it wouldn’t care if it hurt her, but she felt so sorry for it, anyway. Each and every one of these things had been someone once. They had lives and families. Finch shook her head and sank against the door. All this death and madness ever since Dorothea. Ever since she’d killed her down in one of the boiler rooms...

Finch had held Dorothea thrashing against the wall. Her eyes darted about -- wild and unfocused. She tried to claw her arm, but Finch protected it with an ether barrier.

Before Finch could react, Torben shot back to his feet and swung the ball peen hammer. It crashed down on Dorothea’s skull. Finch felt the body she held fall limp as Torben drew it back for another swing. Finch whirled around releasing Dorothea and grabbing the pump technician's wrist instead. She wrest the hammer from his grip and threw it to the floor.

“Why are you keeping her alive!?” Torben shouted. “We need to kill her before she kills us!”

Without a reply, Finch turned back around only to be greeted by the hammer’s head colliding with her shoulder. Dorothea lurched and snarled. Blood dripped down her face, and the skin on her head sagged into her skull just above the temple. She dove for Torben, but Finch grabbed her. Unable to reach the boy, Dorothea flung the hammer, and it collided with Torben’s thigh. He buckled in pain.

As Dorothea writhed in her grip, Finch spotted a crystal jutting from her back. Confused by its presence, she grabbed it in her hand and pulled. Dorothea let out a blood curdling shriek as Finch dislodged it. Her eyes rolled into her head, and she collapsed. Quickly, Finch brought her hand to Dorothea’s head to shine x-rays. The skull fractures had been expected, but large portions of her brain seemed to be missing outright. No amount of healing could ever save her.

Finch clenched her fists. No amount of healing ever saved them. She looked up. Silence had been all she heard from the other side of the door for quite some time, so Finch returned to her feet. She opened the door. Terri still stood wordlessly right where Finch had left her. The guldo grabbed her, but Finch twisted around and freed herself. She scanned the control room hoping to find some way to escape. She had spent more than enough time fighting it already.

In the corner, she spotted the emergency access hatch that lead into the base of the steering rotor. The machinery was incredibly dangerous while running, but if she were careful, she could loop back around to the main hatch a few rooms away. Finch darted over to it and pried it open.

Terri plodded behind her. With nowhere else to go, Finch dropped into the service platform on the level below. She didn’t need to be here, but Terri gave her no choice. She started toward the main hatch but remained careful to keep her limbs away from the large gears. The guldo followed her down and slammed onto the platform behind her.

Finch glanced back. She spotted the cable and froze with horror. It swung down into the large, rotating cog below, and the guldo was swept off her feet. Terri clawed the ground with all four arms. She grabbed the bottom of the platform and pulled against the machine but still slipped closer and closer. She screamed as the giant gears crushed her feet and ate up to her waist. As they grinded to her ribcage, the gears stuttered and slowed but didn’t stop. Finch couldn’t watch and covered her eyes with her palms. The guldo’s wails reduced to gargled choking until finally ceasing completely.

After it stayed quiet a few moments, Finch peeked through her fingers. There was nothing left. Whatever remained of the corpse was absolutely being further mangled inside, but the machinery just chugged along as if nothing had happened. Finch shivered.

Finch climbed back into the control room. She wished she hadn’t seen that and hoped to forget it soon. She remembered that she needed to return to the medical bay, but the details were growing fuzzy, so she consulted her notebook. She felt sick to her stomach the entire journey back.

The medical bay was exactly as she had left it, but the proper lighting made the glass shards easier to see as she crossed the room. Finch tipped her hat back and pulled her goggles up so she could peer through the little glass pane at Doc. She was cutting it close. Doc’s core crystal had lost its glow entirely, but his body hadn’t disappeared yet. She swiped the console, and the machine hummed to life. The visor dropped down, but Finch pushed it away. She instead selected the programmed procedure from the menu. The light of the bioscanner filtered through the window, but Finch didn’t want to watch the surgery. She took a seat on the floor nearby and propped her back against the wall.

Finch clutched her notepad in her hands and stared at her mermaid drawing. Doc would be okay now, but would they be able to find Shirly? She should have protected her. She had promised. Tears fell to bead the paper. Finch brushed her cheeks with her palm and glanced up. The preservation tank caught her eye. These feelings felt too familiar and stirred yet another old memory.

They were inside a tent, and it was hot. “I can’t believe it,” the young man had said “We haven’t even been here a week.” He ran his fingers through his short, jade hair.

“This is not… Judicium…” Finch had replied. She peeled his shirt back in order to get a better look at the knife wound. Thankfully, it wasn’t very deep.

“I know. I’m just surprised,” Bart replied. “I never expected someone to try to mug me in broad daylight.“

“Desperation breeds drastic… reactions...” she replied tracing the laceration with her fingers.

“You should have seen that guy’s face when you rounded that corner, though” he said laughing. He looked back at her with a grin. “You know, Hyde. I’ve never seen you fight before.”

“I am no… fan of it...” Finch replied pumping a bit of ether into the cut, “but I am… here to protect you… Perhaps you... should reconsider all this...”

“Not a chance,” Bart replied. “We can do some real good here, Hyde. These people need medicine.”

Finch scoffed down at her driver. The boy was stubborn. It would either take him very far or kill him early. She sighed behind her mask. She certainly had her work cut out for her with such a driver.

Finch blinked at the tank. How many times had she stood there thinking that she should have protected him. This whole ship was nothing more than a monument to her failure as a blade. She felt lonely, and that loneliness only brought more memories. Finch held her head as she read over the same data. She tapped her spoon as she ate in silence. She watched the sealife above the ruins as she repaired a sanitation drone. She adjusted her lantern as she studied an electrical engineering textbook. More and more memories drowned her in their endless desolation. Finch buried her face in her hands. She wanted it to stop. These memories hurt so much. She had to have some memory that wasn’t lonely. She tried her hardest to remember something.

Then she found one. Finch stared down at herself. She had felt nervous. She had resuscitated them, but she hadn’t exactly considered what she’d say once they woke up. At first, the little blade looked afraid of her but she suddenly smiled up, instead. “I like your mask,” she said. Those were the first words anyone had spoken to her in 2,000 years. Other memories began to flood in. They’re in the bridge. She chuckled. Escort them? She liked these little blades. Best not to frighten them with tales of monsters. Chronic memory loss? The blonde one was far less assured of herself than she’d have you think. Carefully, she tucked them under the blanket. They’ve been gone too long. Those people may still be alive. She wasn’t going to die before she got these children home.

Finch clutched her feathers. Her core crystal felt too hot, and all the remembering was making her head hurt. She’d had enough. She was good at forgetting stuff, so she told the memories to be quiet. They didn’t listen, but she told them again and again and again. Slowly, they slipped back from whence they came, and Finch forgot them.

It wasn’t long before she heard the sound of the hatch opening. Doc raised up from the compartment. Unsteady hands gripped the side as he lifted himself out. He scanned the room. Finch rushed over to help as he placed shaky feet on the ground. He accepted her help to stand but waved her off afterward.

“You’re still not lookin’ so good, Doc,” Finch said.

Doc pressed his fingers against his chest rubbing the core crystal. A network of deep, red lines now stained it. “So I’ve become… a flesheater…” he murmured. Finch nodded.

"I... see..." Doc said taking a step. He braced himself against the wall. “I… I need… a moment…” He looked down at his hands, and his skin glowed white with ether

“Doc, you really don’t look so good,” Finch said again.

“It’s alright… My body is… adjusting to the new… tissue introduced into my… organs…”, Doc answered. After a minute or so, the glowing stopped. “Feels stable…” he said looking himself over. He glanced around then snatched his lantern up. He approached then kneeled next to Finch. “Thank you…” he said.

Finch grinned up at him then wrapped her arms around the much larger blade. Hyde stiffened, but after a moment, relaxed and returned the embrace.

“Okay!” Finch said dropping to her knees. “You gotta help me save Sheila, now!” she pleaded while gripping the fabric on Doc’s chest.

Hyde lifted her up and then returned her to her feet. He made no further response as he stood to his full height. His hump fell away, and two glistening, white wings pulled back his shroud. A second pair also spread from beneath the cloak. He adjusted the cuff of his cassock then lowered his hood. A mane of blond hair spilled out. He pulled his mask down to rest it against his chest. Three infantile faces smiled down at Finch. From the center face, a small set of arduran horns curved forward. The six eyes opened revealing no pupils. Doc raised his lantern and dimmed the valve.

“Whoa!” Finch cried flabbergasted. She stared up at the glowing, white feathers. They radiated ether.

“Fear not, my child,” the angel said in choral unison. He took his hat from her head. “For I have a plan,” he said and placed the hat on his own.

Suddenly, Finch was scooped into one of his arms as Doc took flight. He somehow weaved through the tight corridors on his great wingspan. Finch could only clutch the dark fabric against his chest. Eventually, Doc came to a stop. He placed her on the ground.

Finch spun around recognizing the bridge. She turned back in time to see an entire baby tear away from Doc’s chest. “Ahhh!” Finch yelped as it fluttered past. It wore Doc's mask and flew on small wings. A second infant pulled from Doc's face. It took his horns. A third followed. It took his mane. The putti circled Finch then dispersed. Each went to a separate console.

Doc laughed with a baby’s giggle. He fluttered in place, and the single, remaining face smiled down. “Fear not, Finch,” he said. “I know this ability is strange.”

“Doc, you might want to warn people that you’re made out of babies next time,” Finch remarked clutching her heart. She didn’t need to remember anything to know that was a first.

“I will make a note…” he replied.

“So… what now?” Finch asked sweeping her gaze over the stationed putti.

“Now, we rescue Sheila.,” Doc replied taking the helm. “I will not allow your prayers to go unanswered.”


	8. Matter of the Heart

Alone inside an overturned dumpster, Sheba cradled her aching body. The cold, dead air only served to agitate the soreness she still felt from the crash. She rubbed her arms trying to stave off the chill, but it did little to help. She blew into her hands and looked out into the dark, dreary sky.

Once the survey pod had entered Morytha’s atmosphere, it dropped suddenly. Sheba had felt herself rise from the floor and quickly filled her tub clamshell with water. The pod crashed, and she rattled around inside until it came to a stop. Her water had insulated her from much of the impact, but the landing had not exactly been pleasant or painless. None-the-less, Sheba thanked The Architect that she even survived it, and in a stroke of luck, the crash had mangled the rear hatch enough for Tabitha to rip it off its hinges. Afterward, it had only been a matter of patience until the guldos wandered off one by one.

When it seemed safe, Sheba too had left the pod, but with nowhere to go, she aimlessly wandered through the forsaken wreckage of Morytha. She ducked into alcoves and corners to avoid its haunted denizens until she finally stopped near an underpass. Too afraid to enter, Sheba had taken refuge in the large, green skip that was tucked against the concrete wall that framed the tunnel. It seemed adequate enough shelter to safely rest.

Sheba’s gaze dropped to the ugly, featureless buildings that crowded the streets around her. She felt so small among the monolithic structures. Seeing it from a submarine window had been one thing, but the sheer enormity of the ruins had escaped her. Up close, it all towered so far above her, and while their size bestowed them a kind of grandeur, she didn't understand how mere buildings could feel so alien. No one could possibly want to live in such an insipid and uninviting place. She lowered her attention toward the dark tunnel entrance where strange words and graffiti stared back -- a reminder that someone had, in fact, lived here. The whole place was a monument to these people, and that made the desolate silence all the more deafening. Sheba shuddered and retreated deeper into the bin.

The sound of something plodding along soon broke the silence. It moaned. Sheba wagered it was yet another guldo. She had yet to see anything else alive here, after all. Disregarding the specifics, she doubted whatever it was would notice her so long as she remained quiet. While she waited for it to pass, Sheba stared at the flowering weeds somehow growing through a crack in the asphalt. She sighed softly. She wasn't a plant. She most certainly could not live in a metal box for the rest of her life. She needed to find better shelter. Sheba massaged her neck then peeked back out as it grew quiet once more. The coast seemed clear.

Sheba gulped as she stared into the tunnel. Judging by the sounds, the guldo had wandered off back in the opposite direction, but she had no idea what this darkness hid. She held her breath as she strode in. The thick shadows swallowed her, but after having spent the last few hours aboard  _ The Inquisition, _ it almost felt comforting. The luminous crystals of the guldos meant they couldn't hide in the dark, and the tunnel was long and straight. She'd see one long before it could do her harm.

After a long while walking through the silent underpass, Sheba came upon a platform with a doorway. From the light of her own crystal, she could faintly make out LEDs lining the ground that had long lost power. She peeked inside to find a steep stairwell. Curious, she followed it up and pushed open a trapdoor that lead onto the street above.

Sheba found herself amidst a cemetery of four-wheeled vehicles. She peered through the glass of one hoping it might provide a good place to hide and consider her next move. The linings on the seats were long rotten, and the remnants of a child's doll remained in the back. Finding it too eerie, Sheba moved to another and tried the door. The sound of glass shattering motivated Sheba to jump into it without further consideration. The SUV lacked rear seats entirely, so it at least provided ample room as she peeked through the windows.

Some sort of sphere rolled into view. Glass crunched beneath its smooth, metal body as it stopped in front of an overturned school bus. The sphere separated into four parts, and two long, thin arms extended from it. It swiveled in place as if looking for something. One of the windows burst and rained shards atop the machine. The robot turned to face the noise as a guldo slowly reached for it through the broken window. The machine stared at the arm for a moment. It’s single lens flickered, and then it rolled off. The guldo continued to grasp the empty air in slow motion, but after a few minutes, it finally withdrew its arm back into the bus.

Sheba turned her attention to the streetside. Signs for what looked like shops lined the paved walkways branching off from the road she was on. That seemed to be her best bet. Perhaps she would find some provisions; although, Architect only knew if anything down here was edible.

Clasping the door handle, she surveyed the highway to make sure there was no further danger. The weird ball had left, and she didn’t spy any more guldos. A light flashed above her, and Sheba peered up. Like some ghastly gargoyle, a large guldo perched on an outcropping on the side of the nearest skyscraper. For a moment, Sheba didn't even recognize it, but a pattern of white ether unmistakably laced its crystals. Easily now as tall as Hyde, Ruin Carver Sikh folded a new pair of leathery wings over his shoulders and dangled an elongated right arm over the edge. Instead of fingers, a long claw jutted from his hand at a sharp angle. The previously loose tendrils that had hung around his neck were now woven into a flap that draped over his head. The way it merged into his wings reminded Sheba of some sort of cowled spectre. Only emaciated muscles remained to cling to his face, and the blue, mutated skin had drawn taut enough to display the shape of his skull. Light continued to emanate from his throat and eyes, and the illumination from below cast an ethereal glow on his now skeletal features.

Sikh looked down into the street. His gaze shone upon it like a spotlight as he swept it back and forth. Sheba ducked down and held her breath while the light passed over her hiding place. She didn't dare move, but after a minute or so of darkness, she peeked back up again. Sikh had taken to the air. He drug his claw along the side of the building as he flew away and tore a gash in the stonework. Sheba sighed with relief. She didn't know why he had changed so much so quickly, but he also seemed a lot stronger than before.

Darting out of the SUV, Sheba followed the pavement alongside the nearest road hoping to find some place suitable for more extended residence. She glanced through the window of what had probably been a clothing shop. A few mannequins stood up front still dressed in rotting clothes. Farther inside, she saw many of them arranged in a tight circle with a pair of guldos standing at the center. She hurried past hoping not to draw their attention. At the corner of the same building, a little restaurant spilled its tables out onto the sidewalk. Inside it, she spied bakery displays and a sign depicting what she swore was a cup of coffee. She passed beneath an advert in the shape of a bouquet of flowers and beside another restaurant. Next, a few sets of glass doors led into large lobby, and past that, yet another restaurant.

She certainly wasn’t spoiled for choice, but a poor decision could prove costly. She had no clue which shop would be safest, though, and feelings of exposure steadily nurtured her unease. Down a tight alleyway, she spotted a solid-looking side door. It struck her as a better prospect than all the unprotected storefronts, so she tried the handle. She smirked when it refused to turn. A locked door certainly promised to be even safer. She pulled a pin from her hair, picked the lock, and slipped in.

Creeping through a hallway, Sheba passed a shut doors and an archway labeled with stick figures of a man and woman at either side. The hall spilled out into the shop’s front. Shelves and glass display counters littered with all manner of odd trinkets crowded the floor. She saw something move among the aisles and darted back into the hallway. She tried the door but found it locked. With no time to pick it, she escaped into the washroom instead. She climbed into one of the stalls, sat down, and pulled her legs up onto the ceramic bowl.

Beneath the door, four slender legs slunk past. Sheba could see a mirror through the crack along the edge of the stall’s door. A sleek white robot peered around the room. Two dots and a curved line approximated a frown on the smooth, black screen where its face would be. It wasn’t very big and probably only stood a bit past Sheba’s waist, but she had no desire to find out what it was capable of.

The machine paused. It spun in a circle then paused again. It left her line of sight only to creep into it a moment later as it inspected each stall through the gaps at the floor. One by one it drew closer. Her insides curdled as the machine reached her stall, and its artificial face slipped under the partition. Its frowning screen pointed directly at her.

The robot smiled. It bowed and shook its back end then simply crept back out of the lavatory. Astonished, Sheba rushed out to catch it trotting back toward the aisles. She followed it toward the storefront where the machine laid atop a platform near the front counter. It beeped at her as she approached.

Sheba knelt next to the robot and touched the smooth surface of its body. It whistled and nuzzled against her. Sheba smiled back. It felt nice knowing that not everything here would try to kill her. Given its coloration, the platform seemed to be associated with the robot. Sheba noticed a long-faded, but conspicuous sticker attached to the front. She glanced around, and upon further inspection, found similar stickers on a number of items. Many of the displays looked ransacked, and Sheba felt quite confident that the place had been long looted of anything valuable. Most telling, the glass at the storefront had been blown inward leaving the interior of the shop exposed to the road. Sheba sighed. This was not remotely what she had hoped to find.

Sheba glanced back to the locked door in the hallway. That did provide another potential course. She grinned when the little robot follow her back to it. She made quick work of the lock and swung it open.

“They’ll get you, too,” the Conspiratorial Guldo said clutching its head. The color drained from Sheba’s face. “They hurt on purpose. They hurt on purpose. You can’t take me away!” it ranted while raising to its feet.

Sheba ran, but something collided with her back with enough force to disrupt her footing. Landing on her side, she grimaced at the heavy book that the guldo had thrown at her. The little robot buzzed some sort alarm and displayed a red exclamation point circumscribed by a triangle. It moved between her and the guldo.

“You can’t fool me,” the guldo cried and flung another book. The robot fired a cable into the monster, and Sheba could see electricity arcing along its flesh. “I know the truth!” it shouted and seized the little machine. It smashed it against the door frame until its synthetic exoskeleton snapped in half. It then threw the two halves of the broken machine in separate directions.

Sheba fled through the shop front and back out onto the pavement. She could hear the guldo raving as it pursued her into the street. Suddenly, Sheba was knocked from her feet as something slammed into the ground exactly where she had just been standing. Ruin Carver Sikh pulled his claw out from the pierced asphalt and grabbed the smaller guldo by the face. Sheba retreated on her haunches as Sikh sliced it in half then turned to her. He stood to his full height and stared down at her. His spotlight eyes bathed her in their light. Sheba shrieked. She scrambled back to her feet as Sikh tossed the severed remains of the smaller guldo at her.

“Watching me…” the Conspiratorial Guldo gargled at her as they fell. Sheba screamed and shoved the amputated monster from atop her. She narrowly avoided Sikh’s claw as he sliced through the concrete next to her.

Sikh threw a bolt of light ether while Sheba scurried away as fast as her feet would carry her. It hit the ground next to her and exploded. Sheba kept running, and Sikh took to the air to pursue her. Ahead of her, Sheba could see the road continue into a collapsed overpass. With nowhere else to run to, she raced toward the dropoff. Sikh had already closed what little distance she had gained when Sheba reached the edge.

Ruin Carver Sikh sliced with his claw as Sheba dove into the highway below. She summoned her tub in midair, and Sikh's claw and shadow passed over her head. The tub plummeted and then slammed violently into the roadway below. Sikh circled around overhead then swooped down while Sheba's tub peeled out. Sheba blasted off at full speed as the guldo dropped down. Sikh touched the ground for a brief moment then rocketed after her. He drug his claw along the roadway and tore through the asphalt as he flew.

Ducking her head low, Sheba pumped as much ether into her speed as she could muster. She zoomed between rubble and abandoned vehicles, but the guldo still threatened to overtake her. Sikh hurled a bolt of light that sailed past Sheba and launched a convertible into the air in pieces. A tire bounced past, and Sheba swerved narrowly avoiding the crashing metal.

Sikh was on top of her. He sliced upward with his claw catching the underside of Sheba's tub and hurled it through the air. Sheba slammed back down on her back and rolled in one direction while her tub hit a short distance away before skidding even further in the other. Not even an instant later, Sikh's gaze washed over her, and he raised his claw into the air. Crying, Sheba covered her head with her arms knowing it wouldn't help.

Something green flashed over Sheba's head and slammed into the guldo with enough force to send him flying. "Hasta la vista, baby!" Finch shouted as she landed. She smirked back at Sheba. "How YOU doin?" she said. Sheba could only stare at the smaller blade dumbfounded.

"F-Finch?! I- We demand to know why you're here!" Sheba shouted.

"Aren't ya glad to see me?" Finch asked laughing. "I'd never just let you stay in this spooky place by yourself!" Sheba tried to scowl but had both arms coiled around the smaller blade before she even realized what she had done.

Finch laughed. “Okay, I missed you, too,” she said patting Sheba’s head. Sheba quickly released her and turned away to hide her burning face.

A large, luminous figure descended upon them from above. Sheba yelped and covered her head again.

"Fear not, Sheila," the figure said. His words had an almost chime-like quality. He fluttered in front of her as she unshielded herself from beneath her arms. "I did not intend to startle you," said three, smiling infantile faces in unison.

Sheba stared in awe at the glowing figure bathed in gold and the beautiful, white wings holding him aloft. A putto wearing a familiar mask circled the angelic being. "Hyde...?" Sheba asked furrowing her brow. "What happened to you...?" she asked, but the red stains on his core crystal answered the question for him.

There was a flash of light as Ruin Carver Sikh slammed into them. Sheba whirled around to find Hyde had erected an ether shield to protect them.

"Bartholomew..." Hyde murmured as the guldo circled the dome. Sikh drug his claw along the barrier sending sparks flying along with an unholy screech. His skeletal face swiveled as he tried to find an opening somewhere.

"Yikes, that thing's kooky!" Finch proclaimed holding her hammer in front of her.

"Flee now. A part of me will guide you back," Hyde said.

"Wait, you're not gonna come with us?" Finch asked turning back to face Hyde.

"That is no longer a choice I may make," Hyde replied solemnly. "The matter of my heart is no longer that of a blade." He turned back to face Sikh who slashed away at the ether shield with his claw. "And there are commitments I still have yet to fulfill.”

Sheba watched his forlorn expression turn resolute as he stared down the monster that had been his driver. She hoped to never understand what he was feeling. “Now go." Hyde said. He released the ether barrier and lunged at Sikh slamming his lantern into the guldo's head.

Sikh slashed at Hyde with his claw narrowly missing one of his wings. Hyde took to the air firing a laser from his lantern downward as he ascended. Sikh shielded himself with his claw and followed Hyde up. The guldo hurled a light bolt which Hyde blocked with an ether shield. Sikh slashed with his claw but missed Hyde as he swooped beneath it. The pair circled the tallest skyscraper as they fought -- rising higher and higher.

The masked putto that still fluttered next to them turned to Sheba and Finch. "Follow me..." it said. Its glistening wings left a brief trail as it moved away. Sheba's head was spinning, but she understood enough to know that she should follow the flying baby. Grabbing hold of Finch's hand, she yanked her and summoned another tub beneath them.

"Whoa! Warn a girl, huh?!" Finch shouted, but Sheba paid her no mind. The sky, or what passed as a sky in these ruins, exploded into a fireworks show once the two winged figures began hurling bolts of light and firing lasers at one another in earnest.

Sheba whirled and zigzagged her tub to avoid the judgment spilling off the fight to rain down upon them. She looked up. Hyde and Sikh now fought at such high speed that her eyes couldn’t even properly follow along. She returned her attention to the putto flying ahead of her as it turned at an intersection.

She raced after the putto into what Sheba guessed may have once been town square. An assortment of strange machines stood around the plaza, but they appeared to be little more than boxes on legs to Sheba. The putto created a small sword with light and cleaved through a group of these robots. She rounded the statue at the center and passed a red, octogonal sign into another intersection. Sheba heard sirens. A pair of two-wheeled robots flashed red and blue lights as they rode up on either side next to her.

At first, they did nothing. Sheba eyed them warily, but after a minute or so, one rammed against the side of her tub. Sheba had to adjust her ether to avoid spinning out.

“Hey! Watch it!” Finch cried and shook her fist. The top section of the machine detached to reveal a thin, human-shaped torso. It pointed an arm and fired from the barrel attached at the end. Finch blocked the attack with an ether shield. The second robot joined in the assault, but the spherical barrier held firm. One of the robots ducked back down and sped ahead of them. “Gotcha!” Finch said and jumped from the tub. She landed on top of the machine and rocked it to the side. It tipped over and spun out while Finch launched herself into the air with a whirlwind.

Sheba evaded the robot and positioned her tub to catch Finch as she came back down. She landed bottom-first. Splayed with her legs dangling over the rim, she flashed Sheba a thumbs up and grinned. Sheba glanced back just in time to see the second robot slam into the first, sail through the air, and crash back into the road.

As they climbed uphill, the helm of a massive submarine rose into view beyond the skyscrapers. It floated atop a strange, blue ocean that stretched to the horizon. Hyde’s putto flew figure eights as it awaited them a little further along. Sheba slowed as they neared it and squinted back to check on the rest of Hyde. The flashing bombardment of attacks dyed the skyline white. It hurt to even look at.

Soul-Eater Stanley trudged along the turnpike ahead. He and a large congregation of smaller guldos stared up at the brilliant explosions overhead. The giant monster dropped to his knees and raised his hands into the air which prompted his followers to do the same. Sheba could see the open loading ramp to  _ The Inquisition's _ cargo bay just beyond them.

"I say we charge 'em," Finch said and punched her palm.

Sheba frowned. She didn't agree with that idea. This was a small army. The choice was made for her, however, when one of the guldos spotted them, and the whole group began to shamble toward them.

The putto fired arrows of light into the mass of oncoming guldos. “With a divided front, there are far too many for me to incapacitate,” Hyde’s putto said. “I fear sending another amoretto will lure Bartholomew here.”

Sheba scanned the horde of guldo rushing up the turnpike. Without her driver, all this exertion threatened to soon exhaust her ether, and with so little moisture in the air, she had nothing external to manipulate either. Her eyes lingered on the vast sea at the horizon. “Is that water?” Sheba asked pointing.

“Salt water, yes,” the putto answered.

“Oh! If only it were on this side!” she cried. “Perhaps then we could do something!”

“You need water…?” the putto asked then looked out at the ocean. “One moment…” In nearly an instant, what looked like a small comet careened past from the sky behind them and into the ocean beyond  _ The Inquisition.  _ The ether missile detonated, and the seawater swelled beneath the submarine sending a colossal wave ashore. The eruption rushed inland to swallow the guldos with its torrential power, but the lofty tide showed no signs of stopping there.

The putto looked at Sheba. “I may have overdone that…” it said.

Sheba gaped at the tsunami as it consumed ever more guldos. Never once had she seen so much water in one place. The devastation it wrought would assuredly be fatal to anyone seized in its wake. Sheba bit her lip and scowled. No. This was her element. She was monarch, and it would obey her. “Fear not, Hyde,” Sheba said hiding her smirk beneath her fingers. “These circumstances show promise.” She gripped the rim of her tub and accelerated toward the the surging wall of water.

The towering surf overshadowed them as they approached, but even as it dared to defy her mastery, Sheba held her palms forward. The water parted for her, and she curved it past them. Capturing but a fraction, she swirled it beneath her tub and hoisted them upward. In each passing moment, she gathered more and more water into a second, opposing wave and gradually slipped it atop of the tidal current. While her personal wave crested and crashed beneath them, she moulded it into the shape of an enormous mermaid swimming against the deluge.

“Let me off this crazy thing!” Finch shouted as she held onto Sheba’s waist for dear life. Sheba chuckled. Even though her tub rocked and lurched atop the wave, she was in full control. Guldos and debris rushed by while the water level below quickly fell.

The wave thinned to nothing a short distance away from the submarine, and Sheba’s tub dispersed against her will. Left seated on the concrete, she panted from all the effort she had just exerted. Her head swam and her heartbeat pounded in her ears. Sheba glanced around. Not far away, Finch braced herself on her knees. She gasped for air as well but seemingly less out of exhaustion so much as relief. Meanwhile, the eight or so guldos that remained also gathered themselves. Amid them, Soul Eater Stanley knelt on his palms and coughed water. One of the guldos raised its arm to strike Sheba, but she had already spent all her ether. She was too tired to move.

An arrow pierced its chest. “Just a little further…” Hyde’s putto said.

“Come on,” Finch said and wrapped Sheba’s arm around her shoulder. She then lifted Sheba to her feet. While they retreated, the putto fired more arrows into the advancing guldos to keep them at bay. “Hey, maybe I should ask Doc for one of those carts,” Finch teased.

Sheba scowled. Of all times for her to remember that why now? “Shut up,” was all Sheba managed to croak out.

While they climbed up the cargo ramp, Sheba glanced behind her. More of the guldo congregation had found their way back. The putto could dispatch them no quicker than they attacked. When they crossed into the hangar’s lower floor, the putto spread its arms.

"Only the righteous shall enter through! Heaven’s Gate!" it shouted. Ether congealed into a pearl fence with golden trim ahead of the putto. Stanley and his cohorts slammed into the fence. They gripped and shook the bars trying their hardest to squeeze between them. A few reached through the gaps attempting to grab the putto from the air, but their arms fell far short. "Launch the modified survey pod..." the putto called back. "It will return you to the surface..."

Sheba broke from Finch to stand alone on her own feet. She looked back at Hyde’s putto finally understanding his remark from not long before. He wanted them to leave without him? She didn’t want to leave him behind. Those monsters would have never boarded had he not come to their aid in the first place. He had done far too much for two strangers, already, and he did not wish to stay here any more than they did. “You have our sincerest gratitude, Hyde,” she said, “but we shall not be leaving you here.”

The putto looked back at her with its expressionless mask. “The reboot capsule works only for blades of which I am no longer. There is no recourse, my child…”

Sheba did not like that answer. “Desist this nonsense! You absolutely must accompany us back,” she pleaded. “Surely there is some way for you to return with us.”

“There is not.” Hyde’s putto replied. Sheba’s heart sank. “Go…” it urged. “Do not cling to what cannot be, or regret will shackle you as it did me… Nothing awaits me on the surface as it does you…”

Sheba’s anger bubbled up at Hyde’s hurtful words. Were Finch and she nothing? Sheba clenched her fists, but the putto cried out in pain. Sheba hesitated. “Please…” it said. “I must give Bartholomew my full attention…”

Sheba looked down. Guilt, anger, and remorse battled inside her. She didn’t have many friends. It was unfair that she should have to sacrifice one so soon after meeting him. Unlike before, though, Hyde’s words hid no reservations. She ground her teeth. If the fool wished to be a martyr for their sake, so be it. She whirled around and said nothing further as she stormed into  _ The Inquisition. _

Finch who had simply been watching quietly gave a small wave. “Bye, Doc,” she called out before following Sheba inside.

“May The Architect protect you both in my stead,” the putto replied while the loading doors shut between them.

Inside the hangar, Sheba ignored the frustration and defeat she felt as best she could and glanced over the various land-based vehicles and mechanics equipment stored in the bottom level. She could see the platforms above and a set of stairs along with a few ladders leading up to them.

They made their way up to the modified pod where Sheba scratched her head over the keypad. Hyde had apparently shut the hatch at some point. When he had input something into it before, she had not seen what he typed. “And exactly how does he expect us to enter?” she asked turning to Finch.

“I dunno,” Finch replied with a shrug. Her half-lidded eyes blinked a few times before shooting open. “Oh wait!” she exclaimed. She rummaged through her bag and produced a notepad. On it was written a sequence of four numbers. “Doc gave me the code!” she chirped.

Sheba squinted at the numbers and dialed them into the keypad. The hatch released and the doors slid open. When they entered, Sheba turned back to look at the emergency ejection button. “Finch, be a dear and break this,” she said pointing at the glass. The smaller blade removed her hammer from her back and smashed the glass with the bottom of its handle. She then pressed the button before Sheba could.

Finch grinned back at her while the doors shut. “Well, we hope you haven’t forgotten anything aboard,” Sheba said while turning her nose up and frowning down. Finch’s smile faded which made Sheba laugh. “Unless you wished to bring a souvenir, we presume you already have everything stored inside there,” she said and pointed at Finch’s satchel.

“Oh, right.” Finch looked down. She patted the bag. “You scared me for a second there,” she added. The pod jolted. “Whoa!” Finch cried waving her arms in a circle to maintain balance. It rumbled harder, and Finch fell over.

Sheba, meanwhile, clung to the wall as the pod fired out of its berth. After a couple minutes, the rumbling subsided. Finch sat up and rubbed her head. Sheba surveyed the pod and then squeezed around the reboot capsule to peek into the cockpit. The light from the surface faintly beamed through the cloud seawater. She heard the hum of the engines, and glanced over the console. It seemed to be piloting them to upward on its own. Hyde had certainly been thorough.

Sheba returned to the rear of the pod to examine the capsule. She found a latch and opened the door to find little more than a bed and smooth walls. It appeared harmless, but given what she knew about it, that did not ease Sheba’s apprehension. She scrutinized the inside unsure of how one would operate it.

“Umm… Maybe we should take our clothes off, first,” Finch said behind her.

Sheba froze while her entire train of thought derailed. She whirled around and pressed her back into the open capsule door while Finch merely stared up at her with her usual sleepy expression. “Wha- wha- Remove our clothing?!” Sheba asked.

“Yeah,” Finch chirped back.

“Wh- why?” Sheba asked as her face grew red.

Finch blinked up at her. “‘Cause Doc said it was supposed to... uh... burn us up, right? I don’t wanna lose all my stuff,” she replied.

Sheba squinted down at Finch while her mind wrapped around her words. It made sense. She most certainly did not wish to step out of that machine stark naked and have nothing to put on. Her breathing grew heavy as she slowly came to terms with what she had to do. “F-fine, but only if we disrobe concurrently,” she said. Already feeling too exposed, she covered her core crystal with her hands.

Finch scratched the back of her head. “Okay. Sure,” she replied. Without an ounce of hesitation, she pulled off her goggle mask, and set it aside along with her bag. She then turned to the clasp on her belt. Finch tossed the belt onto the pile, and Sheba gawked while the smaller blade settled down to remove her greaves. Tugging on her own pigtails, Sheba tore her gaze away. She didn’t want Finch to think of her as some sort of lecherous pervert. She gulped as she stared down at her own clothing.

With labored breath, she removed her rings and sleeves. Placing a hand on the wall for support, she also removed her swim socks. She undid her hair cuffs and then placed everything along with her tiara and heels in a pile. She swallowed again. Now, came the hard part. She turned her back to Finch, but her face burned like a radiator no less. She undid her collar and unfastened the hooks on her swimsuit. The top fell into her arms exposing her breasts. She took a deep breath before she hooked her thumbs into her waistline. She shimmied the swimsuit down and stepped out. Now completely bare, she tossed the garment on top of her other items.

When Sheba turned back, her eyes met Finch’s. Somehow, Sheba’s face managed to grow even hotter. She curled her tail up between her legs and hid her breasts with her hands. “Stop staring!” she hissed.

Finch jumped. "I'm not staring! Honest!" said said waving her palms back and forth.

“Yes, you were!” Sheba shot back.

Finch rubbed the back of her head and kicked at the ground. “Okay. Maybe a little…” she said. “It's just... Your skin is kinda REALLY smooth, and you don’t even have feathers or hair or anything anywhere.” 

This did nothing to curb Sheba’s embarrassment. She felt like she could be seen from space. "It is easy to judge when you are not naked,” she said.

“Am to!" Finch protested. "See?” She then pointing at a heap of armor on the floor, “I’m not wearing any of my cool stuff!”

Sheba scanned Finch from top to bottom. “That’s not what we meant! You’re covered in feathers! It’s not fair! You can see all of us but we don’t get to see any of you!”

Finch seemed taken aback. Her face began to grow red, too. “What parts of me do you want to see?” she asked.

Sheba’s mind tripped over the question. Her jaw hung limp while she examined Finch once more thinking about what must lie beneath her plumage. Slowly, her eyes traced the contour of Finch’s curves. A delicate neck? A cute little navel? Did she even have breasts? Her eyes met Finch’s once more.

Finch averted her gaze. “Hey, come on! Now you’re staring!” she whined. She shuffled in place stealing glances every few seconds. Sheba’s heart pounded. She had never seen Finch act so shy.

It was too much for Sheba. Now was not the time for her to be thinking about how she was alone and naked with the girl she liked. She spun on her heels and marched toward the only place she could partake of a moment alone to cool down.

Sheba climbed into the reboot capsule. What she had assumed was a mattress seemed to instead be made from a curious jelly-like material. She sank into it as she laid upon it. The door closed on its own ahead of her, and Sheba took a deep breath as darkness flooded around her. A humming line of blue light encircled the walls above her head. It lowered down and shined its rays from her head down to her feet. When it finished, a robotic arm reached out from her side and attached what looked like three electrical stimulation cables to her core crystal. The arm retracted, and the pod grew quiet.

Then the world stopped.

Sheba’s mind drifted in a void. Time meant nothing. She would find no sorrow or grief here. There was no joy or pleasure. It didn’t hurt. It wasn’t cold or dark, but it was motionless. Sheba merely existed in immaculate stillness. Sight and sound became nothing more than memory in the shadow of this endless emptiness. Spanning into forever and nowhere, it was both fragile and immutable. Like the surface of a pond, any small disturbance would ripple across and tear apart the delicate balance, but nothing had the power to ever disturb it. Sheba had no voice. She had no mobility. She couldn’t even touch her own ether. She could only accept the stillness and surrender to its nothingness. All that existed was her own mind.

Ether washed into her just as quickly as it had left. Every element swirled around her in a storm of raw energy. They crashed into her core like waves on a beach surging into and swelling her with their power. Aglow at the center of the maelstrom, she saw the heart of the universe spilling life and energy into the world. Her core grew warm, and the specter of sight danced in her mind. Shapeless sounds emerged, and a strange tingle danced across her body. She heard her heart beating its first beats amid the hum of her crystal's resonance. Ether trickled out toward her fingertips, and tactile sensations crept in. Muddled colors coalesced into objects, and sounds took shape. Sheba gasped. Oxygen filled her lungs, and ether tickled her core. She looked down at her hands, and she was whole once more.

For a time, Sheba remained still gasping for air. She hadn’t quite been prepared for that. She raised up and dusted soot from her backside only to shudder once she realized they must be her own ashes. She pushed the door open and climbed out of the capsule.

Finch watched her as she exited. Sheba brushed her pigtail to the side. She paused and furrowed her brow. Had her hair not been down? Upon examining herself, she found that she was fully dressed again. Her eyes darted to the pile of clothes she had left only to find them completely untouched. Sheba frowned. Had she suffered that embarrassment for nothing?

“Your turn,” she told Finch while fuming to herself. Finch nodded, and Sheba watched as she climbed into the capsule.

While the capsule did its work, Sheba gathered their belongings and crammed them into the small decontamination chamber Hyde had installed. She puzzled over the controls until she discovered that the entire glass front doubled as a touchscreen.

“Oh, man. You coulda warned me,” Finch said climbing out next to her. “That was a liiiiiittle intense.”

“And would it have made a difference?” Sheba asked.

The decontamination chamber chimed and opened on its own. Sheba glanced between it and Finch before plucking her side bag from the items. It was the only thing she wasn’t already wearing.

“Hey, thanks,” Finch replied with a smile. Sheba watched as Finch scattered a box of crayons on the floor. Finch then settled against the wall and pulled a sketchpad out of her bag. After flipping it open, she placed it on her knees and grabbed one of the crayons from the ground. Sticking her tongue out, she brought it to the page.

Curious, Sheba took a seat next to her in order to peer over her shoulder. “Enlighten us as to what you are doing,” she said looking over the Tirkin-scratch Finch was producing.

“I’m tryin’a draw Doc before I forget,” Finch replied. “He might be hard to draw, though.”

Sheba raised an eyebrow. “And why is it you wish to draw him?” she asked.

“It was Brigette’s idea. It’s like a diary, so I don’t forget stuff,” Finch chirped back. “I like pictures more than writing, though, and pictures are better for remembering what people look like.”

Sheba blinked. She had no idea Finch kept something like that, but the value was palpable. Brighid could certainly be as clever as she was beautiful. Quietly, Sheba watched Finch work. Finch was by no means a great artist, but she was certainly more skilled than Sheba. Her efforts ultimately resulted in a sort of caricature. Though far from perfect, it did still maintain a likeness to the hunchback. Finch moved on to adding little labels, and Sheba stifled a laugh when Finch added one on his mask that said “Babies Inside.” She was uncertain as to what it quite meant, but she wagered it referred to Hyde’s putto and three faces.

While she added a few final notes to the picture, Finch sunk down at an angle and propped herself against Sheba as much as she did the wall. After deciding to draw a few of the guldos they had encountered, she flipped to a new page. Sheba assisted Finch to the best of her ability, but the strange mutations gave the monsters a sort of formlessness in her memory. The pictures ultimately bore only a passing resemblance, but Finch managed to capture at least the effect of their terrifying disfigurements. Once Finch finished, she sat up and began gathering her crayons.

Sheba watched on with a small smile while a faint blush tinged her cheeks. The quiet closeness had set her insides ablaze with warmth. She never wished to lose the intimacy and affection she felt in those moments. She had nearly done so once already, and the regret she faced had been immeasurable. It only took one instant for it to be wrest from her clutches, and it had been far worse than the other turmoils her heart threatened. She could delay no longer. She must tell Finch of her affections right this instant! Her face flushed further at the resolution, but her heart raced in anticipation. Whether it left her emotions bankrupt or she won the jackpot, she could not afford to simply let these moments continue to slip by her.

“Finch, we… um… I have something I wish to discuss with you,” Sheba said. Finch deposited the box of crayons into her satchel and glanced up at her. Facing Sheba, she settled onto her rear and leaned back on her palms. Sheba licked her lips while Finch rocked her feet with an expectant expression. With a gulp, Sheba pushed her trepidation down as far as she could. “It concerns a matter of the heart...” she added softly.

“‘Matter of the heart’?” Finch repeated. She placed her finger to lips and her eyelids fell into that same sleepy expression. "Hold on. Don’t tell me," she said waving her hand back and forth. "Let me guess. I bet I was so cool saving you that now you got the hots for me. Is that it?" She capped the question the smuggest of grins.

Sheba's jaw dropped in disbelief. Cool? This daffy dwarf was nothing such, and she certainly would not have this cheeky little runt thinking of her love as that of some vacuous groupie. Her brow curdled into a scowl, and Sheba rounded on the smaller blade. Snatching up Finch’s cheeks, she pulled them in separate directions. “Do tell us! Who would ever possess ‘the hots’ for this dopey face!” Sheba hissed.

“Yeowch! Hey, that smarts!” Finch cried.

A tempest of raw emotions broiled inside Sheba. Anger at Finch. Anger at herself. Hurt and disappointment. It was not the simple indignance Finch’s teasing usually evoked. Why had Finch chosen that moment to say something like that? Sheba released Finch then turned away and crossed her arms. She was never one who kept her opinions bottled away, but every time she tried to share this one, something always stopped her. Be it circumstance or her own lack of courage -- it infuriated her. Was her cowardice truly stronger than her love? That thought only exacerbated her anger until the weight of her own fury overwhelmed her. Her eyes began to water. She presented her back to hide them.

She was not quick enough, and Finch noticed. Concern laced Finch’s brow. “Hey, I was just foolin,” she said. She reached out to touch Sheba’s shoulder, but Sheba pulled away.

“Our feelings are not a joke!” Sheba snapped. Finch jerked back her hand, and her eyebrows shot up. “We do not enjoy someone we care for making fun of them!” Sheba added.

“I wasn’t tryin’a be mean…” Finch said. When Sheba did not reply, Finch’s face fell. “I’m sorry…” she mumbled.

Sheba's crystal ached. She knew such a comment was nothing more than jest, but it had hurt no less. She also knew Finch would not hurt her intentionally. She had braved the derelict remains of Morytha just to find her. Such action was not that of someone who wish to see her harm, so why was she so afraid? She kneaded a pigtail between her fingers. If she could trust Finch with her life, why could she not trust her with her heart? She glanced at Finch, and the smaller blade’s guilty expression swirled the emotions inside her. Her mouth felt dry as she spoke. “We simply want someone to like us,” she said with her stomach in knots.

“I like you,” Finch replied blinking up at her.

Sheba’s heart jumped into her throat, but as she stared into Finch’s seafoam eyes, she knew the smaller blade had not understood. “No. We seek more…” Sheba said and leaned forward. The hum of her core crystal sang the words she could barely form. “We wish for someone special to…” Her face burned and her breathing tightened. She wanted to hide her blush but forced herself not divert from Finch’s beguiling gaze. “...to love us.” She silently pleaded for Finch to read between the lines.

Finch tilted her head. She crossed her arms and frowned. “So ‘special’ like… especially cool?”

Sheba blinked. “What?” She squinted down at Finch who wore an expression somewhere between determination and complete confusion. “No. We do not expect this person to be even remotely cool.”

“Hey, don’t say that!” Finch said. “I’m sure someone pretty like you will find someone super cool! I bet they’ll be way cooler than me even!” She stretched her arms out for emphasis.

Sheba sighed. Surely, no one could be this dense. Furthermore, why was Finch so fixated on coolness? Did she believe Sheba found that attractive? Did  _ Finch _ find that attractive? Did she want Sheba to think she was cool? Why had she called Sheba “pretty”? Did she like pretty girls? If so, why would she want Sheba to think she was cool? What if she only liked cool girls? Sheba did not think of herself as cool. Did that mean Finch wouldn’t like her? As Sheba tried to unravel her thoughts, they only continued to tangle further. Seeing no success, she shoved the entire snarl from her mind out of sheer frustration. None of it mattered. She intended to tell Finch how she felt.

“We doubt we’ll find anyone more suitable to be our number one than you...” Sheba said. She ran her fingers through her hair in an effort to appear nonchalant despite the thundering in her chest. Certainly, she could be no clearer than that.

“No! Just you watch!” Finch said pointing her index talon. “I’m gonna find you the best girlfriend!”

Sheba groaned. Why must she love someone so stupid? “And until then?” she asked in annoyance while raising an eyebrow.

“Huh?” Finch asked. Her brow furrowed. “I didn't think about that." She then held her chin and frowned. After a moment of deep thought, she sighed. “I guess that means you’re stuck with me for now,” she chirped with a giggle.

Sheba’s eyebrows dropped. “You certainly are an idiot, aren’t you?” she said rolling her eyes. She couldn’t suppress punctuating it with a grin.

Finch’s jaw dropped. “Hey, I’m tryin’ to help out!”

“Help out?” Sheba stepped toward Finch. “Have you even the faintest idea what you have just proposed?” she asked and stepped even closer. Wide-eyed, Finch backed away from Sheba’s sudden advance. “You intend to secure us love, yes?” Sheba asked while following Finch’s retreat. “But until that time,  _ you _ intend to be our number one?” Sheba cornered Finch against the side of the pod. She captured her chin and lifted her face, so she could stare into the Finch’s glittering eyes. “Are you prepared for such responsibility?” She leaned down closer and closer until her breath rustled the feathers in Finch collar. She brought her lips but a hair’s width from Finch’s. “Are you willing to supply us with  _ everything _ we require?” she whispered.

Sheba donned her most impish smile as Finch slowly went completely red. “I uhh…” was all Finch managed to say. This silly little blade knew exactly what she meant now. To drive the point home, Sheba released Finch’s chin and placed her index finger on Finch’s lips. Sheba straightened and brought the same finger to her own devilish smile and kissed it. Finch swallowed and averted her gaze.

Sheba then whirled on her heels and took a few strides away leaving Finch to smolder. Her sudden burst of courage left her just as quickly as it had come. She feigned composure, but despite outward appearances, Sheba felt lightheaded. Her heartbeat hammered away, and her knees quivered like gelatin. So shaken by her own actions, she could only tug on her pigtails until her breathing settled. Despite fancying herself a gracious aficionado of beauty and women, even that confession had been of significant difficulty. She had still not yet voiced the words she wished to say, but this did not stop her from feeling any less giddy.

She glanced back at Finch who had sunk down to her bottom. In response to Sheba’s mere gaze, her eyes widened and her face colored again. She buried her face behind her satchel. Sheba found her flushing perfectly adorable. No one had ever acted embarrassed when she had done such things before. Usually, the women she showered her affection upon simply seemed uncomfortable. What need did she have of words when she could bear her heart in action? What use was an entourage so long as they were together? Sheba’s whole being drowned in a rapturous deluge, but her elation was cut short when the pod lurched.

Knocked off balance, she staggered in effort to not fall or twist an ankle. Light spilled in from the cockpit as the pod bobbed in place. Finch and Sheba exchanged breathless looks. A ladder detached and descended from the ceiling revealing a valve hatch. Anticipation raced inside Sheba. She climbed the ladder and twisted the valve as quickly as she could muster. As she lifted the hatch, sunlight poured through the crack and washed over her. It filled her to the brim with relief and happiness. She shoved the hatch open completely and climbed onto the top of the pod. She sucked in the first fresh air in what felt like ages while the sun’s warm rays tickled her skin. Oh, how she had missed the sun. It hung low against the horizon painting the sky a deep orange. If only she could delay the sunset and allow it to stay in the sky for a little longer.

Finch climbed up next to her. Her feathers swayed in the light breeze. She looked at Sheba only to begin flushing again. Sheba’s heart did flips.

Someone calling her name interrupted her admiration. Sheba paused and looked around in confusion. It seems they’d surfaced in the dead center of Chilsain’s harbour. Boats of all manner lined the metal piers, and a number of people were noticing the strange object now floating in the wharf.

“Hey, look! There’s Nina!” Finch said.

Following her talon, Sheba turned around. On the deck of one of the cargo ships someone in bright yellow bounced around waving her arms and shouting. A shapely figure rushed up from behind her, slipped, and would have fallen overboard had it not been for the deck rail and the shorter girl grabbing her waist. The blade’s blonde hair glistened as she apparently tried to pretend that she wasn’t embarrassed over what had just occurred. Sheba grinned. It tickled her that the Aegis had been so worried about them. Both figures resumed shouting and signaling.

Sheba materialized her tub in the cloud seawater below. “Well, let us not delay,” she said snatching up Finch’s hand. “It seems everyone has been awaiting our return.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you made it this far, I hope you enjoyed the story as much as I did. I also thank you for even giving it a try. I know the whole concept is strange. I'd love to hear any questions, thoughts, concerns, or emotional outbursts my readers have.
> 
> I intend to post an appendix at some point. It will contain an illustration of Hyde, game-style information on him as a blade, a little bonding animation narration, and a rough map of The Inquisition. I don't know exactly when I'll do this, but the timing will mostly depend on when I want that last, sweet bump. Haha.


End file.
